


I Owe You One

by Nova_Fearnewood



Category: Extreme Ghostbusters (Cartoon), Ghostbusters - All Media Types, The Real Ghostbusters
Genre: Eventual Romance, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Holidays, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Living Together, Meeting the Parents, Mentions of Egon/Janine, Rating May Change, Roommates, Seasons, Set after Back In the Saddle, Swearing, Weddings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-09
Updated: 2018-07-20
Packaged: 2018-11-11 13:04:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 23,584
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11148999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nova_Fearnewood/pseuds/Nova_Fearnewood
Summary: Eduardo didn’t think that he’d find himself in the middle of a snowstorm calling Kylie from a payphone.He had been kicked out for good this time, and so he turned to the one person who owed him."So, you need a place to stay...What the hell, I guess I owe you for not letting that fog eat me..."(The story of how Kylie and Eduardo went from friends and colleagues to roommates and lovers)





	1. Kicked Out

**Author's Note:**

> Hello all!  
> This is my first fic in the GB Universe, so I hope you like it.  
> I may not update as often as I (or you) had hoped, but I will try for an update every few months or so. Please be patient!

Eduardo didn’t think that he’d find himself in the middle of a snowstorm calling Kylie from a payphone. 

Yet here he was. 

Mid December and a little after nine pm and he was standing on a street corner, a mile from home, calling her. 

 _“No, not home,”_ , he thought,  _“Just a place where I used to live...I wasn’t even welcome for the most part, so, yeah, not really much of a home...”_

He had gotten kicked out again, this time probably for good.

The understanding that he and Carlos (or “Carl” as he liked to be called) had had after he and the team saved Kevin back in October had since turned back into silent animosity.

Beth and Kevin had both tried to mend their relationship, but to no avail. 

It hadn’t been an argument that had gotten him kicked out this time, at least it hadn’t started out like one. 

~Three Hours Earlier~ 

“Hey Uncle Eduardo, what do you want for Christmas?”, Kevin asked as he finished his homework while his dad worked on case files and his mom cleaned up after dinner.

“I don’t know…maybe a new pair of gloves for work, some socks, and a bottle of that cologne I got last year for Christmas…”, he replied, flipping through the channels, “What about you? What do you want for Christmas?”

Kevin’s eyes lit up.

“I kind of want a Tamagotchi, but I wouldn’t mind a new pair of skates either.”

Carl walked into the living room and sat down in his recliner before grabbing the paper off the coffee table and shaking it open, not looking at his brother.

Things had been getting pretty tense between Eduardo and Carl.

Beth entered soon after and began reading one of her books.

Kevin noticed the silence and tried to break it.

“Hey mom, what do you want for Christmas?”

Beth replied and Eduardo didn’t hear her.

He and his brother were having a staring contest over the edge of the paper.

“Hey _Carlos_ , you never told me what you wanted for Christmas…”, Eduardo said, rolling the ‘r’ in his older brother’s name, reminding him so much of the Hispanic heritage that he’d rather forget altogether (Carlos had almost kicked Eduardo out when he found out that his brother gave Kevin  _las_ _calaveritas de azúcar_ on la Día de Los Muertos).

“What I want is for you to get a _real_ job, shave that goatee off your face, and make something of yourself.”, he replied darkly.

His brother always got testy around the holidays because they reminded him of their parents.

Their father had been gunned down in a drive by shooting outside of the precinct where he had worked when Eduardo was only nine and then they had gone to live with their grandmother since their own mother was too consumed by her depression and grief to be a proper parent. Their mother had passed away a year after that, their grandmother telling Eduardo that she had died of a broken heart. Camilla Rivera had actually committed suicide when she overdosed on painkillers, anti-anxiety meds, and sleeping pills, something that Carlos had admitted to Eduardo in a fit of anger years later.

 Eduardo could remember the team getting on the topic of their parents on the way back from a bust upstate.

Garrett’s mom and dad were married, they lived together and raised him and he still lived with them.

Roland’s dad was currently deployed but his tour would be ending soon and his mother kept him and all his brothers and sisters in line (with Roland’s help, of course).

Kylie’s parents were divorced and the only one who had ever really cared for her was her late Grandma Rose, her parents were, quote, “married to their careers and traveled all over the country”, but they sent her money all the time.

_“I guess it makes up for them never being around, like they know I can handle myself, but they still make sure I have money to pay rent and fill the fridge, so, in a way, they are putting food on the table and keeping a roof over my head…I still miss them sometimes, but they’ll usually give me a call or send me a letter if they’re in NYC and we’ll go out for lunch or something…What about you, Eduardo? Tell us about your folks…”_

He had told them everything, making sure to say that he didn’t want anyone’s pity for his situation, as it had hardly been in his control, leaving out the part where he lived above his older brother’s garage. That truth had come out later.

Before Eduardo could shoot back with his rebuttal, Kevin piped up in his defense.

“But Dad, Uncle Eduardo does have a real job, he’s a ghostbuster, and he is making something of himself…and his goatee looks cool…”

“Yeah, I’m a scientist…”, Eduardo added when he noticed the dark look in his brother’s eyes.

He didn’t want Kevin to be on the receiving end of Carl’s anger.

It was one thing to alienate your brother when they were used to your alienation, but it was another thing for a father to alienate his own son at a young age.

Beth sensed the rising tension and told Kevin to go upstairs and get ready for bed.

Kevin bade Eduardo good night and went upstairs.

When the bathroom door had shut and the water began running, signaling that Kevin was in the shower, Beth turned to the two brothers and said, “Look, I’m sick of this tension. Work it out, but don’t do it in front of Kevin. Take it outside if you have to, just work it out.”

Beth went to pass, kissed Carl’s cheek and patted Eduardo on the arm.

Carl’s glare never wavered.

“So,”, Eduardo began, “What are we gonna argue about this time?”

“Let’s start with something easy, like why aren’t you a cop?”

“It’s not for me, man. I’m not you and I’m _certainly_ not Dad.”, Eduardo replied.

He saw a muscle in his brother’s jaw twitch.

Not a good sign for him.

“I’m a ghostbuster and a scientist…I deal with stuff you couldn’t imagine in your wildest dreams of your most terrifying nightmares…”

“That’s just a hobby! A childish game!”

“If it’s such a game, what if those trolls we blasted had hurt Kevin? I wasn’t doing that for kicks, man, I was doing it to save his life… that’s one thing our jobs have in common. We both save people.”

“Crime in New York will always be here. What if the ghosts suddenly vanish like they did back in ’92? Isn’t that what put the original ghostbusters out of business? Then what?”, Carl got close to Eduardo and poked him in the chest diminutively, “Then what, _scientist_?”, he asked, mocking the way Eduardo called himself a scientist.

“Then I’ll work with my team until we find out why that happened…there’s always supposed to be a certain base level of PKE activity in the area, without that, there could be a surge and the city could wind up being caught in the crossfire of an all-out paranormal event of apocalyptic proportions…”

“No, I mean what would you do for money?”

 Eduardo shrugged.

“I’m resourceful, man, I’d find my way.”

Carl scoffed.

“Dad would be so disappointed in you.”

“I wouldn’t know.”, Eduardo snapped back, “He was gunned down almost eleven years ago…I didn’t know him like you did.”

“Well, he would have wanted you to carry on the tradition of being a cop, that’s for sure.”

“And I’m sure he would have just _loved_ you abusing your powers like this…”

While their arguments seldom came to blows, tonight just happened to be one of those rare occasions.

Eduardo didn’t even have time to react.

Carl swung and it caught him in the jaw.

Stunned, Eduardo shook off the blow before running his tongue along the inside of his mouth, checking for blood.

“Maybe that’ll stop you from disrespecting our father.”

“And yet, I’ll bet mom is sitting on the other side and watching us fight…I’ll bet she’s upset at both of us for acting this way.”, Eduardo replied,

“Even if that were true, she has no right to be upset at us. She lost that right when she dropped us off at grandma’s house.”

“Are you still mad at mom for committing suicide?”, Eduardo asked, “It’s okay to feel sad that she’s gone but to be stuck in the second stage of grieving doesn’t do anyone any good. You gotta work through bargaining, depression, and acceptance now.”

“I have accepted that mom is gone.”, Carl replied.

Eduardo gave a short burst of sarcastic laughter.

“You’ve accepted her death about as well as you accepted the fact that Kevin wants to be a ghostbuster and not a cop when he grows up…”

“That’s because I don’t want him to end up like the real ghostbusters, look at them; denounced by the mayor, forgotten by the city, broken men with broken lives. Look at you and your friends. Garrett: arrogant beyond reason. Roland: wasting his intelligence on the things that go bump in the night. Kylie: if you want the prime example of someone who is still stuck in a stage of grief, look no further. Bet she’s suicidal, too. Might want to keep an eye on her. I bet she’s trying to be the teacher’s pet, huh? You mentioned that she read the book he wrote for the class four times, cover to cover? Then you have that secretary of yours, Janine, was it? She’s obviously been carrying a torch for that Spengler hack for so long that I pity the guy. And then there’s Spengler and that flying mess of phlegm you all call Slimer. You know how some people can be so book smart that in the real world, they’re practically useless because they lack the social skills? That’s Spengler for you...All the originals, they’re washed up and in other lines of work. This is what you have to look forward to if you continue on this path.”

Carl saw he was getting under Eduardo’s skin.

“Oh! I almost forgot! And then…then there’s you. Eduardo Rivera…You’re the dumbest one in the group, I’m still surprised that they haven’t kicked you out by now. But that’s good for you because at least with them, you have people who care…but how long will that last? All of you are in college, what happens when you graduate? You go your separate ways and you’ll be alone again…Nothing lasts forever you know, and you forget that I know your biggest fear…”, Carl paused, “Aside from death, you fear loneliness the most…”

Carl glanced down and saw Eduardo clench his fists.

“Oh, and what are you going to do?”, he mocked before getting in Eduardo’s personal space and pointing to his jaw, “Go ahead. Take a swing…It’s only fair…”

Eduardo was ready to swing when he stopped and thought about it.

“No way, man…”, he replied, stepping back and sticking his hands in his pockets, “you’d probably cuff me and haul me in for assaulting an officer, give all the boys down at the station something to laugh about…And all that stuff you said about my friends is wrong.”

Carl stopped grinning when he realized his brother had figured out his scheme and hadn’t taken the bait.

Eduardo continued, however.

He wasn’t done talking to his brother.

“I wonder what Officer Gwen would think about that?”, he said, naming the woman that his brother was cheating on Beth with and watching the color drain from his face, “That’s right, I know all about you and your new partner…”

“Officer Matthews and I are just partners…”

“Oh right, just partners…You remember when Beth was out of town at her sister’s house for a week helping with the new baby, that one night when I was supposed to be on call and when Kevin was at a sleepover? I wasn’t on call. I saw you and Officer Blondie pull up and I was in the kitchen when you came in, made out with her and took her upstairs. All those ‘late shifts’… I wonder if Beth knows… now that I think about it, she probably doesn’t… I should go upstairs and tell her everything…she’s too nice to be with someone as undeserving as you…”

Before he could climb the stairs, Carl grabbed him by the jacket and yanked him back, face red with rage.

“Out.”, he hissed.

“ _¿Que?_ ”, Eduardo asked, reverting to Spanish to further piss off his brother.    

 “Out. Get out of my house…pack your shit and get out of my garage, too, if you’re so grown up with a real job, you can rent your own place.”

Eduardo shook his head.

“Fine by me man, I’m gone…I just hope Beth finds out sooner rather than later…If you work it out now, maybe it can be handled quietly so that Kevin never learns the truth…Wouldn’t want to alienate your son and wind up just like our father…”, Eduardo pulled his coat, hat, and boots from the closet and then said, “Tell Beth and Kevin that I love them and that I’m gonna miss them.”

He left before Carl could respond.

He went back to the garage and threw all his possessions into a couple duffel bags and crammed his backpack with his books. He actually took the time to make the bed and straighten up before leaving, anything to delay having to trudge back out into the bitter cold, but trudge he did.

He trudged for a long time before he realized he had nowhere to go.

Garrett’s place was too far to walk to in this weather, Roland was probably already asleep by now and with all his brothers and sisters, there was no way he could inconvenience him and his mother like that, the phones were off at the firehouse and since Egon and Janine were finally engaged and were living together, Janine’s apartment was no longer an option and they had told the team not to call the private line after hours unless it was a dire emergency.

While his sudden homelessness was unfortunate, it wasn’t the four horsemen riding down fifth avenue, so he wasn’t going to disturb them.

This left Kylie.

She lived on her own and lived within walking distance, so he rummaged for change and stepped up to the nearest payphone and dialed her number.

“Come on, pick up…”, he murmured, hoping it wasn’t a bad time.

The snow swirled down around him and he looked up, the streetlight illuminating the air above him like a halo.

 _“Hello?”_ , came a familiar voice from the other end of the line.

“Kylie, hey, it’s me, uh, Eduardo…”

_“Oh, uh, hey…what’s up, we got a call?”_

Eduardo shook his head and then realized she couldn’t see him.

“No…I was kicked out…Carlos and I had a pretty bad fight and he kicked me out...if it were any earlier, I’d call Spengler, but it’s after hours.”

_“So… you need a place to stay…”_

It hadn’t been a question.

“Yeah…I do…”

_“What the hell, I still owe you one for not letting that fog eat me a second time…Do you need me to call a cab?”_

“Nah, I can walk…”

 _“So, how close are you to my place?”_ , she asked.

“Not far, maybe half an hour to forty-five minutes away…”

_“Good. I’ll see you then…”_

“Alright, thanks Kylie.”

 _“No problem, you’d do the same if our roles were reversed…so, we even now?”_ , she asked.

Eduardo cracked a smile and chuckled lightly.

“ _Chica_ , I will owe you for this one for a very long time…”, he replied, “I’ll see you soon.”

He heard her laugh lightly and murmur something that sounded like, _“I’ll hold you to it.”_ before she said goodbye and he hung up.

Eduardo took a second to thank the higher power watching over him for Kylie Griffin before he rerouted himself and began walking to her apartment.


	2. Settling In

 Kylie had almost jumped out of her skin when the phone rang.

She had been watching _The Craft_ and the phone rang just when Nancy had startled Sarah by flinging open the shower door. The bugs in that scene had been bad enough, but Kylie had inadvertently flung her throw pillow across the room with a yelp when the ringing started.

This movie reminded her too much of that case they had worked when Eduardo had accidentally completed the circle for a trio of young witches and she shuddered as she remembered Cernunnos’s evil voice.

She paused the tape and went to the phone as Pagan stared at her from his perch atop a low bookcase.

“Hello?”, she asked, curious as to who would be calling this late.

 _“Kylie, hey, it’s me, uh, Eduardo…”_ , came the caller’s reply.

“Oh, uh, hey…what’s up, we got a call?”, she asked, twirling the cord around her finger absentmindedly.

She glanced out her window at the steadily falling snow and then at her gear, hoping that she wouldn’t have to suit up and go out in this cold. Her black jumpsuit and orange shoulder pads only did so much against the elements.

_“No…I was kicked out…Carlos and I had a pretty bad fight and he kicked me out...if it were any earlier, I’d call Spengler, but it’s after hours.”_

Her heart sank.

He and Carlos had been doing pretty well since the whole troll incident, but if their relationship had degraded to the point where Eduardo had been kicked out in the middle of a blizzard, then she needed to help her friend out.

“So…you need a place to stay.”, she said before glancing around.

Her loft wasn’t really meant for two people, but she had a pretty good futon and she saw how Eduardo kept his former place practically spotless, so she wasn’t worried about him being a messy houseguest. No, what she was worried about was the fact that she had some feelings for him lingering just below the surface.

 _“Yeah…I do…”_ , Eduardo replied, breaking her from her thoughts.

“What the hell, I still owe you one for not letting that fog eat me a second time…Do you need me to call a cab?”, she replied, trying not to sound like her heart wasn’t trying to hammer its way out of her chest.

_“Nah, I can walk.”_

She asked him how close he was and glanced around. She would have to clean fast if he was only a couple blocks away.

_“Not far, maybe half an hour to forty-five minutes away…”_

That would give her enough time to do a fairly thorough tidying up.

“Good. I’ll see you then.”

_“Alright, thanks Kylie.”_

“No problem, you’d do the same if our roles were reversed…so, we even now?”, she replied, trying to calm herself down by getting into their banter about how they were always saving each other and saying _“I owe you/we’re even”_.

She heard him laugh and glanced into the mirror on her wall by her bed and saw her normally pale face blush pink.

“ _Chica_ _, I will owe you for this one for a very long time…”_ , he replied, almost in a purr.

She screwed her eyes shut and mouthed the words _“Oh my God”_ as her blush got darker.

Kylie had to get her shit together because Eduardo would be there soon and he could not know her true feelings for him, that would make things too damn strange at work.

She laughed softly instead and murmured the words, “I’ll hold you to it”, before saying goodbye and hearing the line click after he returned the words.

Releasing a heavy sigh, she took a moment to collect her thoughts before glancing at Pagan, who stared at her expectantly from the bookcase.

“What?”, she asked her cat, “It’s not permanent…I know you have history together, but just be nice, okay?”

The cat looked at her, blinked once, and then went back to grooming himself.

Kylie huffed and began tidying up the place.

She grabbed an empty basket from one of the bookshelves and went into her bathroom, tidying up the counter space around her sink before placing another empty basket on the other side along with a cup.

“If he’s going to be here for a week or so, I might as well make him feel welcome.”, she murmured as she put out more towels and put her tampons in the cupboard beneath the sink.

She threw open the shower curtain and organized her products onto one shelf in the caddy, making room for his stuff. She sprayed the tub down and put out a bathmat before glancing at her watch.

“Hmm. Not much time to do much else…”

She hurried into her kitchen, lighting a scented candle as she went, before cleaning Pagan’s litter box and clearing off the table. She stood straight up and looked out of her kitchen door to the balcony where snow fell steadily, covering her outdoor table and chair with an inch or so of the white stuff.

“Oh my god…”, she muttered, running a hand through her dark hair, “He’s gonna be freezing…”

She filled the kettle with water and put it on to simmer before rushing out into the main room and clearing her occult books off the coffee table and putting them back where they belonged.

She opened up the spare closet that she never used and rearranged some boxes on the top shelf before opening up the drawers and sighing. At least they had been emptied and her summer clothes were packed away in her storage unit downstairs. She hauled out the dressing screen from the closet and set it up in the corner before stepping back to admire her cleaning skills.

She rubbed her hands together and turned the thermostat up a notch before making her bed and tying back the curtains on either side of her bed.

It was a studio apartment, so there was zero privacy with more than one occupant, but she was glad that she had installed some sort of room dividers earlier in the year to separate her ‘bedroom’ from the rest of the space, should the rest of the team decide to come over.

 She would pull the curtains when it was time to go to sleep, no need to make him feel unwelcome in her space.

“After all, I have nothing to hide…”, she murmured, glancing on her side table where her birth control pills and vitamins sat on top of her journal before taking the items and putting them into her side table drawer, “Well, except for these…”, she added.

She contemplated putting her teddy bear into the trunk, but shook her head. Her Great Grandma Rose had given it to her as a birthday present when she was three and she had held onto it ever since. It was a comfort item and there was no age limit on comfort.

Just as she thought about that, the buzzer rang for her to unlock the door and she switched on the hall light, unlocking the main entrance to her building.

She glanced over at the mirror by the bed and saw the makeup that lingered on her face from earlier, wondering if she should touch it up or remove it altogether before deciding to leave it as it was, after all, she would only remove it later to go to bed.

“Well, Pagan, he’ll just have to get used to me not wearing it eventually, might as well start tonight.”, she murmured, sliding the plastic boot tray out from beneath the bench near the door. Her own boots were still wet from her grocery run earlier, so she left them there.

She paced until she jumped when she heard the knock at the door, checking the peephole, just to be safe, before undoing the chain, sliding the bolt back and opening the door to reveal one red-faced Eduardo Rivera.

He still had some snow on his shoulders, but she reached out and brushed it off onto the tile floor of the hall.

“Hello.”, she said, smiling a bit at him.

“Hey.”, he replied, shivering a little.

She saw him shiver and said, “Get in here, I’ll bet you’re freezing…”

Eduardo tentatively stepped inside, unsure of where he should stand now that he was here for the first time as a human being, his first visit being as her cat.

He glanced over at Pagan and sent a quick grin towards the cat who promptly made himself scarce by slinking off beneath Kylie’s bed.

He remembered being trapped in that body all too well and he figured that Pagan would never forgive him for it.

“So, uh, I’ll take your hat and coat and you can leave your bags here until you’re ready to unpack… boots on the tray.”, she said, nodding to the space next to her own boots.

Eduardo put his bags down and handed over his hat and coat before sitting down and going to work on the knot in his boot laces.

“I really appreciate you letting me crash here...”, Eduardo said, “I promise, I’ll contribute while I’m here…”

His voice sounded stiff, even to him, and he decided that the tone was too formal…

Kylie laughed lightly as she draped his coat over a chair by the radiator, beating him to the punch.

“You need to relax a little…I get it that you want to be polite in my apartment, I appreciate it, but…”, she sighed and faced her new roommate, “you’re not going to get kicked out for speaking out of turn here…freedom of speech is a right, you know…”, she replied and padded over to the futon, sitting down on it, her legs tucked beneath herself, “Um…you don’t have to answer right away, but I would like to eventually know why you were kicked out…”

Eduardo nodded, still facing his boots before looking up at her.

“Uh, no offense, but I’d rather take a shower, you know, collect my thoughts…I’m-I’m honestly still trying to figure it out myself…”, he replied, rubbing the back of his neck.

He didn’t like keeping things from her, but he wasn’t lying when he said that he needed to find the right words.

He was still mad at Carlos and he didn’t want that to come pouring out of him, not now.

Not with her.

Kylie nodded.

“Okay…”

There was tense silence and with no foreseeable way to break it, Kylie cleared her throat.

“So, uh, the bathroom’s in there…I put out a towel out for you on the bar near the front of the tub, mine is near the back. Uh, if you want to take a shower, keep the plastic curtain inside the tub and turn the center switch to the right. When you’re finished, spray the tub down and then turn the water off. Don’t forget to turn the center switch to the middle to let the water drain from the pipes…”, she realized she was rambling and trailed off.

Eduardo was still unlacing his other boot, having gotten the other one off and on the tray.

“Okay, any other house rules I should know about?”, he asked sincerely.

Kylie was slightly taken aback.

Normally she would have gotten sarcasm from him, but not now.

Now, he carried himself with a maturity he hadn’t displayed before. There was no cynicism in his voice, no witty bite to his words. He was more thoughtful and less callous and there was a sadness about him that Kylie had never witnessed before.

 _“Poor guy…Carlos must have really hurt him…”_ , she thought.

“Yeah, uh, shoes in the tray by the door, no extremely loud music, uh, I don’t think you do this, but if you smoke at all, take it out on the balcony.”

“Eh, I don’t do cigs, smoked some weed and enjoyed it, but my brother’s a cop, so it’s not like I was blazing all the time…do you smoke?”

Kylie nodded.  
“Cigarettes are gross, but weed is fine with me…I more or less use it for medicinal purposes than the high, period cramps are killer…”

“Gotcha.”, Eduardo said with a nod.

“Keep the toilet seat down.”, she added.

“Because I’m a dude?”, he asked, regaining a little bit of his old tone.

Kylie’s lips curved up slightly on one side at that, and Eduardo almost missed it, but was glad that he didn’t.

“Nah, it’s because Pagan will try to drink the water and I don’t feel like cleaning up his puke or taking him to the vet later… another thing, don’t feed Pagan from the table.”, she rattled off, “Don’t let Pagan out on the balcony... If you’re gonna be late getting in, tell me so that I can let you in and leave a note if I’m out and you go somewhere… I have a few spare keys, one to the building, one for the mailbox, and one to the apartment, please don’t lose them…”

“No problem.”

She thought about that for a moment and added, “Uh, it’s not really any of my business, but if you go out and meet someone and you decide to go back to someone’s place for the night, please don’t bring them back here…”

She couldn’t imagine how she would react even if he did spend the night with someone else at their place. She’d be more than a little bit devastated if she had to see him come in one morning with a lopsided grin on his face that all guys seemed to wear after a one night stand.

Eduardo saw a dash of worry cross her face.

Sure, he flirted a lot with the ladies, but it was all in good fun. Kylie didn’t need to know that she was the only girl he’d ever want to spend the night with in a non-platonic way.

“I don’t…I’m not into casual stuff and I would never…not in your apartment.”, Eduardo replied shaking his head, trying to dispel her negative thoughts, “And I know it’s your place and all, but can we both agree not to do that?”

Kylie nodded.

She would never even dream of doing something like that.

The teapot began to whistle and Kylie offered him some tea, which he accepted.

“Thanks…”, he murmured, accepting the hot mug gratefully, the teabag still steeping.

“Have you had anything to eat?”, she asked.

“Yeah…Beth fixed a roast… have you had your shower?”

“Nah, not yet…”

“Go take it then…I’ll, uh, make myself at home…see what’s on TV tonight…”, he replied, grabbing a coaster and putting it on the coffee table before setting his mug down.

“Okay then…before I take it, I had an empty closet…I guess it was meant to be a pantry, but management turned it into a closet instead, anyway, you can put your clothes and stuff in there, I hauled out the changing screen so you have privacy…no need to fight over the bathroom just so you can get dressed…and there was only Christmas stuff on TV, so I rented _The Craft_ from Blockbuster…”

“I’ve seen that movie…reminded me too much of that case with the three witches…”, Eduardo said, “Now _A Charlie Brown Christmas_ , that’s a classic that the job hasn’t ruined for me yet…”, he added, turning the TV on and stretching out on the futon before flipping through the TV guide, “Ooh, they have _Scrooged_ on later… wanna watch it and make fun of the ghosts and Bill Murray?”

Kylie saw his eyes light up with that particular ‘old Eduardo’ glow and nodded as she got her pajamas out and walked to the bathroom.

“Sure… I mean, who can resist…That _Ghostbusters_ movie was good, but they could have at least tried to find actors that looked like the _REAL_ Ghostbusters…I mean, Harold Ramis did an awesome job with Dr. Spengler’s voice and mannerisms, but come on, the guy couldn’t be further from looking the part…”

“Yeah, that always bugged me…with as many times as the original team got their busts in the paper and on national news, the least they could have done was dress the cast up a little…I mean, you saw Egon in the eighties on TV for that _Live! From Al Capone’s Tomb_ special, everyone saw that, even if it was just Janine doing improv…the dude was a blonde and had a pompadour…”

Kylie smiled and nodded.

“Oh, one more rule…”, she said before ducking into the bathroom, “Keep the hair trap in the tub and clean it after every time you shower…”  

“Got it. No clogging the drain.”, he replied and started channel surfing, watching her close the door before settling on a channel that was playing infomercials and taking a moment to glance around the place.

The front door was near the far corner and it was flanked by a table on one side and the bench with the boot tray on the other. There was built in shelving with latticework facing the door and books on the other, blocking the entrance from Kylie’s bed.

Her bed was full size, possibly queen, with dark red plaid flannel sheets. It was adorned with several throw pillows and blankets which offset the wrought iron frame, but the most surprising thing was the teddy bear.

She had never struck him as someone who sought comfort in material things, but everyone was different.

There were dark cherry side tables topped with lamps on either side of the bed and dark curtains hung around the bed on tracks to give her some privacy. There was a dreamcatcher hanging on the wall behind her bed.

 A large trunk sat at the end of her bed with Pagan’s cat bed on top of it. Just outside the curtain was her desk, cluttered with occult books and a framed picture of an older woman, no doubt her Great Grandma Rose. There was a mirror just above the desk near her closet and dresser and clippings from spell books and occult lore were taped to the edges.  

The window ledge was host to a few more books, a tin, an incense burner, and a Christmas cactus. The window behind the futon had an empty ledge and the third window was the same, of course that one led to the fire escape.

The walls were covered in occult tapestries and a couple of band posters.

The end tables everywhere else were mismatched in shape but retained the same dark cherry finish, some of them with books on top, others with geodes, statues of saints, gods, and goddesses, and the odd candelabra.

She had one wall that was almost packed with bookshelves and cabinets except for a space occupied by a small antique piano.

 _“Probably belonged to her great grandmother.”_ , he thought as he walked over and got his bags to begin the process of unpacking.

Eduardo heard her humming in the shower and smiled.

As he unpacked he took the time to notice the other details of her apartment.

Her TV and VHS sat on its own table with a cabinet of VHS tapes and some cassette tapes below it.

There were cat toys dotting the main room, and Pagan’s litter box was partially out of sight beneath another table that had a pillow on top of it. It was set in a spot where the afternoon sun would shine right on it, the perfect place for a cat to take an afternoon nap.

Eduardo finished his tea and took his mug into the kitchen, laying his change of clothes over the arm of the futon.

The kitchen was fairly plain; dark Formica countertops with steel edges, whitish gray linoleum flooring, white stove, white microwave, white refrigerator with a store note, a to do list, and a cat calendar hanging from the side of it with her list of phone numbers and a rack of assorted take out menus.

There was no dishwasher but she did have a double drainer stainless steel sink, and it seemed like everyone the same basic wood cabinets in their kitchens these days, only hers were stained darker.

The kitchen table was small but there was enough room for multiple people if need be. There was a doorway on the other side of the kitchen and it was curtained off, but from the trace smell of fabric softener, he guessed it was her laundry room. Opposite the laundry room, was another doorway with a curtain, probably the pantry.

One wall was partially made up of old window panes with an equally vintage door that led onto her balcony. Purple floor to ceiling blackout drapes obscured most of whatever view she had, but since she was on the corner of the building, she would most likely be able to catch a good breeze off the water if the weather was better and the door was open.

Curious, he washed his mug, setting it off to the side in her drainboard, before pushing the curtains aside and looking outside.

Snow coated the metal table and chair that sat outside and an empty flower pot sat on a lone stool.

It was dark, so he couldn’t see the view even if she had one, so he just watched the swirling snow fall from the darkness.

“Enjoying the view?”, came her soft voice from behind him and he jumped a bit before turning to face her and momentarily losing the use of his voice.

She was beautiful.

She leaned against the brick column at the kitchen doorway and ran a towel through her dark hair, a peaceful look on her face.

She looked different without all her makeup, but mesmerizing nonetheless, and she padded over to him in her oversized tee shirt and sleep pants, coming to stand beside him. She looked out at the blizzard in silence.

She smelled like herbs and fruit all in one and as she had drawn nearer, he could make out the freckles that dotted the bridge of her nose as well as the scars from her acne.

“Eh, I kinda like watching the snow…something about it calms me down…”, he replied, finally finding his voice.

“It’s like the earth is trying to purify itself… for a while, everything is calm and at rest…”, she replied, “It’s beautiful…”

He almost blurted out that she was beautiful because his eyes had hardly left her since she emerged.

“Yeah…and then the next day it’s a pain in the ass…”, Eduardo replied, causing her to smile but not to respond. She padded away to the one curtained doorway to her laundry room and put her wet towel into the hamper inside.

“Uh, I’m gonna go take my shower…it’s kind of late, do you still want to watch that movie?”, he asked.

“No, not really, I’m pretty tired…”, she replied as she walked back, hoping he wouldn’t be too disappointed.

“Okay...”, he replied and went to leave the kitchen.

“Eduardo.”, Kylie said and he turned to her as she pulled the drapes closed and faced him.

“Yeah?”

She felt frozen.

His brown eyes bore into her green ones and she looked at his hands instead.

 _“Nope, bad idea!”_ , she thought as he unbuttoned the flannel shirt he was wearing and smoothed out the Henley beneath it, the sight of his long fingers moving gracefully down the placket sending her heart racing and her imagination whirling off in a very non-platonic direction.

She played with a loose thread on her shirt and spoke, hoping her true emotions would be masked.

“Uh, I’m probably going to read for a little while so I’ll probably still be up when you come out…but if I’m not…”

“I’ll keep the noise level at a low roar.”, he replied, making her smile again.

“Thanks…uh…did you want me to fold out the futon?”, she asked, still averting her gaze.

“Nah. The futon is fine how it is, besides, it’ll only be more work to have to turn it into a bed every night and then back into a sofa every day…”, Eduardo replied, noticing her change in demeanor.

“Alright then…”, she cleared her throat and forced herself to make eye contact, “I cleared a space in the bathroom for your stuff and I have a nightlight that I keep on in there at night, just so I don’t have to fumble in the dark…leave the door open when you’re done.”

She walked to the refrigerator before pulling out a couple of water bottles and she pressed one into his hands as she walked past him into the main room, blew out the candle, and turned the TV off before pulling the drapes closed and tugging one of the bed curtains around on the bookcase side.

 Before she could release the tie back on the other, Eduardo called out to her.

“You know, Kylie, for all the jokes and jabs I make about you at work, I’m really grateful that you let me stay here…Thank you…”, he said, making her look up at him with a soft smile that warmed him from the inside out.

“You’re welcome.”, she replied.

Pagan wound himself around her feet and hopped up into his bed on the trunk as she released the tie on the other side and switched on her bedside lamps.

“Goodnight Eduardo.”, she murmured as she drew the other curtain.

“Goodnight.”, he practically whispered as she vanished behind her curtains.

He heard the rustle of sheets and the creak of springs from her bed before he took his clothes and shower stuff into the bathroom, shutting the door and locking it behind himself.

Her bathroom was fairly large and the tiles were cold against his feet, even though he was wearing socks.

He saw that she had made accommodations for him and he almost felt guilty for springing this change upon her.

He put his stuff out and placed his earrings and the cross he wore in the little dish by the side of the sink, turning on the water as he undressed before getting into the tub.

He showered off quickly, a part of him wanting her to still be awake when he emerged, the other part wishing that she was asleep so he wouldn’t have to potentially face her again until the next morning, but he finished quickly and cleaned the trap before brushing his teeth, running a hand over his jaw and deciding to shave in the morning, noting the dark bruise that colored his face from where Carl had struck him.

He pulled on his boxers and a white tee shirt before exiting the bathroom and walking barefoot over to the futon. There was now a heavy winter comforter and a pillow on it, so she must have forgotten and put them out when he was still in the shower.

He was surprised at how easily he was able to settle down and soon he felt himself drift off.

It only felt like he had been asleep for a second when he was jolted awake by a scream.

In the dim light from her bathroom nightlight, he saw Pagan streak across the apartment from between the curtains surrounding Kylie’s bed and into the kitchen.

He got to his feet and hesitated for a second before pulling the curtain aside and turning on the lamps.

Kylie had a blanket nest around her, she was in the fetal position and was wailing, heavy sobs wracking her body as beads of sweat formed on her forehead.

She yelled something that sounded like, “No, go away! Don’t make me do this!”

It scared him to see the strongest person he knew break down like this so he placed a hand on her shoulder and shook her awake gently.

“Kylie… _Chica,_ wake up, you’re having a nightmare…”, he said softly.

She tried to fight back against him and he blocked her from landing a good few strikes but when her eyes flew open and she saw who she was fighting, she stopped.

“Are you okay? I-I heard you screaming…”, Eduardo stammered, seeing the confusion on her face.

Then she closed her eyes and sighed, placing a hand over her eyes and wiping the tears away.

“You’re okay… this-this nightmare stuff has been going on since the Grundel case. Only he takes you guys and makes you like him and I can’t save anyone without killing them…but I have to, otherwise you’ll kill me…”, she replied.

“Okay, well, if you’re fine, I’ll go back over to the futon…”, he said, backing away.

She rolled over and caught him by the wrist, holding on gently, almost as if she was waiting for him to break her grip, but he didn’t.

“Eduardo…”, she murmured as he turned around, her eyes brimming with tears again, realizing now just how shaken these nightmares left her.

She was far from being ‘fine’.

“Hey, do you want me to sit with you until you feel better?”, he asked, “We can talk it over.”

She bit her lip and screwed her eyes shut and as she nodded, tears slid down her cheeks. He sat down on her bed, suddenly feeling cold.

She shivered and tugged the blankets up around her and he told her that he would be right back before pulling the heavy comforter from the futon over to her bed and sitting down to face her as he pulled it around his shoulders.

“Maybe you should lie down…”, she whispered, facing the ceiling, “I don’t like spilling my guts while I’m being stared down…”

Eduardo nodded and murmured, “That’s fair.”, before lying down next to her and staring at the ceiling too, tilting his head back and forth at the pale green star stickers on it.

“Tell me everything.”, he whispered.

She inhaled deeply and he heard the tears in her voice as she recalled the story to him and he shuddered when she told him how the nightmare version of him tried to choke her to death.

“…I-I killed Garrett first, then Roland and Egon…uh, I-I could never bring myself to kill you, for some reason, but I did it anyway… all of you changed back after I shot you, but none of you would wake up…and then you woke me up…”

There was silence as he took all of that in.

“This job…it really fucks you up…”, he murmured.

“And yet even though you don’t sleep and have nightmares and face everyone’s worst fears on the daily, you love it, that feeling of satisfaction, you love it so much that you’d never think to quit…”, she added.

“Exactly…”

Silence.

“Is that why Carlos kicked you out?”, she asked plainly.

“Not really.”

“If you’re not ready to tell me, I understand-“

“My brother is cheating on his wife.”, Eduardo blurted, cutting Kylie off, feeling tears sting the corners of his eyes, “Beth is the sweetest woman ever, totally undeserving, and Kevin…he’s just a kid…neither of them know… and he’s cheating on her with his new partner…”

Kylie didn’t speak.

“And then he wants to tell me that my job is meaningless unless I’m a cop, how ashamed dad would be of me, and then I told him that mom would have been disappointed in both of us…he went on to say that, essentially, she didn’t matter and that even in death, she had no right to have an opinion because she abandoned us. I told him that dad would be ashamed of him for abusing his power…things got physical…”

“He swung on you?”

Eduardo nodded.

“Got me in the jaw. I have a pretty nice bruise here…”, he replied, showing her the purple bruise on his face.

Kylie winced and reached out to touch it, but hesitated and then quickly withdrew.

“You didn’t swing back?”

“Nah, if I had, he would have taken me down to the station and I could have actually ended up catching a charge for assaulting an officer…maybe doing jail time…who knows…”

“Was that why you got kicked out?”, Kylie asked.

“Nah, he insulted the team, said some pretty offensive stuff about you…”, Eduardo looked at her, “We’ve been put through the wringer and if I would have swung at any time, it would have been after he said all that stuff because he doesn’t know the things we’ve dealt with…”

Kylie felt an odd thrill pass through her.

He would have defended her honor and everyone else’s, too.

Sure, it was a little archaic, but still, friends who would defend you even when you’re not there are the best types of people to associate yourself with.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

“So, that’s it, that’s how you got kicked out?”

“I threatened to tell Beth that he was cheating. That’s what did it…”

Kylie shook her head.

“What an asshole.”, she muttered, “So she still has no clue…”

“Not that I’m aware of…I kinda hope she overheard the conversation and had words with him later…if not, I’ll call and then swing by when I know he and Kevin will be gone and tell her…but what a crappy time to tell her something like this…its one hell of a way to ruin Christmas…”

“Better to ruin Christmas than start the New Year with a lie…”

“Maybe you’re right…”, Eduardo replied before rolling on his side to face her, keeping his distance, “Speaking of Christmas, do you celebrate?”

Kylie nodded, rolling onto her side so that they were face to face with a good bit of room between them.

“I do a small thing here by myself…ever since my Great Grandma Rose passed away, I haven’t found much enjoyment for the usual big holiday…but now that you’re here and I assume you’ll be staying until at least the New Year…”

“Depending on how many cases we get…”, Eduardo added.

“Yeah, I figured we’d just celebrate together…”, Kylie replied before hastily adding, “You know, as friends?”

Eduardo nodded, not mentioning to her that her cheeks had reddened slightly before adding the “as friends” bit.

They laid in silence until Kylie yawned.

“Okay…are you feeling better now?”, Eduardo asked, “I don’t want to invade your personal space or anything...”

Kylie nodded before curling up and pulling up the blankets over her shoulders, her voice muffled slightly as she slowly blinked at him.

“Mmhmm…you can stay here…probably more comfortable here than on that futon…”

“Really? Can I get that in writing so I don’t get yelled at for being a perv when you wake up and find me here?”, he asked, only half joking.

Kylie laughed sleepily.

“I, Kylie Anne Griffin, promise that I will not yell at you for being a perv if you sleep here…”

“Your middle name is ‘Anne’?”, he asked, causing her to crack an eye at him, “Never mind. Okay, I’ll stay but only because you’re right, this is way better than the futon and because you invited me.”, he replied, situating himself beneath his comforter, “Do you want the lights out?”, he whispered.

Kylie nodded, her eyes closed.

“Goodnight, Kylie…”, he said as he switched the lamps out and then stared at the ceiling.

The light green star stickers were glowing above them, providing minimal light, just barely enough to see by and Eduardo glanced over.

Kylie nuzzled into her pillow and sighed, hopefully at peace.

Eduardo felt his eyelids drooping and soon drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

~~~

Eduardo woke gradually, feeling relaxed and warm before reality hit and he realized that there was added weight on his chest.

Literally.

He looked down and stiffened, his heart racing.

Kylie was sleeping with her head on his chest while he had two pillows stuck beneath his head.

He had stolen her pillow sometime while they had been asleep and so she had shifted in her sleep to use his chest instead.

 _“That seems more than fair…”_ , he thought.

She was half draped over him, lying on her stomach, legs sprawled across her side of the bed, the covers in disarray. Her left arm was resting on the mattress, tucked under his right arm and her left arm was on his chest, her hand resting flat over his heart. She had a hint of a smile gracing her slightly parted lips, her strands of bluish-black hair that had fallen onto her face fluttered on every exhalation. Her face was relaxed and serene and as he sighed, she nuzzled against him.

He pulled the blankets up over her shoulder, resting his left arm over her shoulders, holding her gently.

Kylie shifted and groaned a bit before opening her eyes a little and yawning. She stretched and opened her eyes fully.

“Good morning, _Chica_.”, he murmured, looking down and moving his arm off of her.  

She pushed herself up off of his chest and rolled over onto her side of the bed, her cheeks turning red as a look of confusion clouded her face.

“Correct me if I’m wrong. I had a nightmare last night, we sat and talked it out, and you fell asleep in my bed?”, she asked.

Eduardo sat up and rubbed the back of his neck.

“Basically… You also promised that you wouldn’t yell at me or call me a perv for sleeping here.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, even used your full government name to do it.”

She narrowed her eyes a bit.

“Oh really? What’s my middle name.”, she asked, in her signature _“I believe you, but I still want proof”_ tone of voice.

“Anne.”, he replied.

“Oh…Nothing else happened?”, she asked, expertly keeping the note of disappointment out of her voice.

“Nothing else happened while I was in your bed. I stole your pillow, you decided to use my chest as payback. That’s all.”, Eduardo replied before lowering his voice and deciding to tease her a bit, just to lighten the mood, “Unless you _wanted_ something to happen now, that way I _could_ say that something happened while I was in your bed…”, he added, his voice coming out and posing the proposition as more of an actual question than just his usual lighthearted flirting.

Kylie’s eyes widened, her eyebrows rising, wondering if he was serious and somehow felt the same for her as she did for him.

He quickly recovered from his blunder and waggled his eyebrows at her suggestively.

 _“Oh, so he was just kidding…”_ , Kylie thought as she narrowed her eyes and rolled them at him before turning away, hiding her face so he couldn’t see her mouth the words, _“I wish he wasn’t”._

Eduardo cleared his throat and swung his legs over the side of the bed, facing away from Kylie.

 _“Well, that sounded way more suggestive and sincere than what I was going for…”_ , he thought, shaking his head, hoping that he hadn’t just confessed his feelings for her, _“Well, at least I don’t have any other *hard* issues to deal with…”_

Kylie pulled the curtains back on her side and stood up, stretching, her back and knees popping as she went and Eduardo did the same, his joints cracking.

“Between the two of us, we could pass as a pretty convincing bowl of Rice Krispies.”, Eduardo said, pulling his curtain back and heading for the window drapes to open them.

Blinding white light filled the room as he parted them and Kylie rolled out her yoga mat and the spare one she kept in her closet before padding into the kitchen and parting the curtains in there.

Soon there was coffee brewing and both Kylie and Eduardo were doing yoga.

Well…Kylie was doing yoga, Eduardo was trying his best.

“How the hell do you do that?”, he asked from the cobra pose as he watched Kylie rest her weight on her forearms with her body upright as if in a handstand, her feet almost touching her head.

“I’ve been doing this for a while…before I took the beginners yoga class as my health requirement last fall, I had been to several classes with my mom…before she got back into her work after grandma Rose passed… anyway, I followed it up with an intermediate course last spring... I took the advanced course over the summer and got pretty good at it.”

“What is that pose even called?”, he asked.

“The scorpion pose. You should try it…”, she added, not caring that her tee shirt had drifted down and exposed her stomach and sports bra, after all they had changed around each other after busts before and she wore crop tops a lot, so it was nothing new.

“No thanks, I’d rather not break my nose a second time…”

“How did you break it the first time?”, she asked, coming out of the pose, sitting cross-legged on her mat and stretching her arms above her.

“I played soccer when I was younger and still short-”

“You were athletic _and_ short? Wow, what happened?”, Kylie interjected with a chuckle, making Eduardo roll his eyes and continue.

“Some really big kid on the other team rammed me in the face with his shoulder and that was it…they tried to set my nose, but it just healed like this anyway… oh well, at least it isn’t leaning more to one side than the other…that happened with a kid I went to school with.”   

She finished up with some simple poses, Eduardo following along surprisingly well (with her help, of course), and then they had their breakfast.

“Sorry…I only usually have oatmeal with fruit for breakfast…”, Kylie said, “It sticks with you all day…”

Eduardo shrugged as he swallowed a spoonful of the cereal.

“Eh, my mom did say once that oatmeal was better than no meal…She was right…She was right about a lot of the stuff she said…”

Kylie was quiet and she sipped her coffee.

“She sounds like she was a good mom…”, Kylie murmured.

Eduardo paused at her words, how she had a longing tone in her voice.

“She was…”, he replied, stirring his coffee, “What about your mom…what is she like?”

Kylie sighed.

“She always wanted the best for me, so I can’t fault her for that…Uh, she’s petite and skinny, blonde hair green eyes. She married my father young, in her early twenties, and they went to school together and got in the same business programs. They graduated a year apart and had me a few years later. My mom took maternity leave, but after that, I was pretty much raised by my Great Grandma Rose…”

“Married to their jobs?”

“Precisely…My dad has always been distant and disinterested overall, which is why I look up to Egon as much as I do. He’s sort of like the father I wished had been there for me when I was growing up, even if he wouldn’t be able to survive without Janine to keep the firehouse running smoothly…I have no clue how he managed all those years without her…”, Kylie replied.

“And your mom?”

“Well, she put me in ballet and gymnastics and karate and sports… I was in so much after school stuff and it was ‘all for my own good’, but all I wanted to do was read and learn the piano with Great Grandma Rose. My great grandma raised me, showed me how to really accept myself as I am and she didn’t even get fazed when I wanted to dye my hair darker or go goth…My mom had a fit and demanded I dye it back to brown.”

“That explains the cheerleading.”, Eduardo murmured and Kylie nodded in reply, “So what did it for your folks, why’d they split?”

 “I-I wasn’t supposed to know this, but I was supposed to have a younger sibling…”

Eduardo felt his heart sink.

“What happened?”

“Miscarriage, most likely…”, Kylie shrugged, “My mom struggled a lot to have me but my parents always fought a lot so I suppose losing their only other chance at parenthood was the straw that broke the camel’s back and eventually they split and I was raised by Great Grandma Rose and then when she got really sick, they put aside their differences just long enough to get everyone’s affairs in order before she passed…”, Kylie paused, sipping her coffee before continuing, “They found me an apartment closer to the college and then took some time for bereavement to move me from New Jersey to the city…”, Kylie sighed, “The last time I saw my mom was the day after Thanksgiving when the fog cleared. We had brunch at her hotel and then I went home and got the news that Egon and Janine were engaged. The last time I saw my dad was for lunch in August. He wanted to ask me how school was going before the fall semester started and ask me if I had decided on a major yet.”

“Wow. That sucks.”, was all Eduardo could muster.

Kylie nodded and they sat in silence.

“It’s almost nine…We should be getting ready to leave.”, Kylie murmured, breaking the silence and finishing her coffee before scooting her chair away from the table.

“To the garage?”, Eduardo asked, clearing the dishes away and washing them as Kylie dried and put them away.

“Yeah, Roland usually picks me up on Saturdays…”, Kylie replied simply.

For some odd reason, hearing that Roland was driving Kylie around just made a pesky spark of jealousy ignite in him.

Eduardo shrugged it off.

_“They’re just friends…there’s nothing between them, otherwise I’d have probably figured it out by now…”_

“So, what time is he usually by to pick you up?”

“Around nine-thirty.”

“You can do your makeup in less than thirty minutes?”, Eduardo asked, genuinely surprised.

He had always assumed that it took her much longer than that.

Kylie laughed at the bewildered look on his face.

“I could do my makeup in my sleep.”

“Huh…”

They spoke about school and work up until nine-thirty when they bundled up and left the apartment, trudging downstairs to the lobby with the duffel bag housing Kylie’s uniform and shoulder pads.

An older man sat at the front desk, reading his paper.

“Good morning, Mr. G.”, Kylie greeted as she put some envelopes into her mailbox for pickup.

The older man put down his paper and smiled, his eyes crinkling up at the edges, his glasses sitting low on his nose.

“Ah, good morning Kylie, and oh! Who is this young man?”, he asked, pushing his glasses up on his nose, his dark eyes sweeping over Eduardo.

“Mr. G, meet Eduardo Rivera. Eduardo Rivera, meet my landlord, Mr. Arthur Giovanni…”, Kylie introduced.

They shook hands and Mr. G asked, “So, are you two living together? Or will I never see young Mr. Rivera again after this chance meeting?”

“Oh, he needed a place to stay for a while so I offered him my sofa…He’ll be here for a while.” “Anywhere from the week to a month…”, Kylie and Eduardo explained, their voices overlapping.

Before Mr. G could ask another question, Roland pulled up in his blue Mustang.

“Nice meeting you, Mr. G!”, Eduardo called as Kylie said goodbye and they left, not seeing the curious look on the older man’s face as they went.

Roland and Garrett were both waiting in the car.

“Good morning guys.”, Kylie greeted after throwing her gear in the trunk with Garrett’s wheelchair.

“Hey, Eddie, since when are you and Elvira here the best of friends?”, Garrett asked, turning around to glance at them from the front seat as they rode off.

“Yeah, I tried calling your place this morning to ask if you needed a lift to work and I got the answering machine…you never let the phone just ring like that…”

“Well, it’s a long story…”, Eduardo replied as Roland carefully maneuvered into traffic and they were soon surrounded by other vehicles and fed up motorists.

“Well, seeing as this _is_ New York City traffic after we’ve had a blizzard and Roland is driving, I’m sure you can share it with us before we reach the firehouse…I mean, it’ll probably be 1998 by the time we get there.”, Garrett replied, causing Roland to roll his eyes and grip the wheel a little tighter.

Eduardo glanced at Kylie and she nodded her consent and he told them everything about his situation, omitting everything having to do with Kylie aside from the bare minimum required to tell the story.

“So, this is 100% platonic? You aren’t getting _cozy_ with Vampira, are you?”, Garrett chided.

“I am right here, you know…”, Kylie said, looking up from the book that she had pulled out of her purse, “And, no, there is nothing going on.”     

 “Yeah man, I sleep on the sofa.”, Eduardo replied, only telling half the truth.

“And even if they were together, it isn’t like their personal relationship would be our business anyway.”, Roland added.

“Yeah, and speaking of personal relationships, how are things going with Steffi?”, Eduardo asked, poking Garrett in the shoulder.

Garrett fell silent and Eduardo wondered if perhaps he had gone too far.

The young redhead had really fallen in love with Steffi during the brief time she was above ground with them, and she had fallen for him.

“Uh, Steffi is fine…she wants to come to the surface for New Year’s Eve…you know, they move on a different calendar than us, and it’ll be dark outside, so she’ll be able to see better…her dad is fine, he got better and he’s still pretty gung-ho about how we sun watchers are a bad influence. Steffi says that she’s ventured out at dawn to try and adjust her eyes, but she can never be out past nine because it gets too bright.”

“How are you communicating with her anyway?”, Roland asked.

“You act as though she doesn’t know what a phone is…I mean the lines run beneath the city…”, Garrett replied before falling silent.

“So, do you think the Ecto 1 is going to be ready to brave this weather?”, Eduardo asked Roland.

“I gave her a tune up and made her weather ready, so I sure hope she can hold up.”

“Good, because pushing that car with Kylie at the wheel is not how I want to spend my Saturday.”, Eduardo replied.

“Well, either way, we made it to the firehouse.”, Kylie stated.

“And would you look at that, we’re still in 1997.”, Garrett added, “Thanks for getting us here in one piece, Roland.”

“You’re welcome…”

The firehouse was quiet as they walked inside and hung their coats up.

“Hello? Anyone home?”, Roland yelled.

Janine appeared at the top of the steps wearing an apron.

“Good morning! I hope you kids are hungry because you’re just in time for breakfast!”, she called down to them before disappearing.

“I’m glad I already ate…”, Garrett muttered as he got onto the elevator.

The rest of them trudged upstairs and went into the dining room, dropping their bags on the floor of the den as they went.

Slimer greeted them and Egon came down from the top floor when Janine called him. The older ghostbuster kissed his fiancée on the cheek before sitting down.

Eduardo still couldn’t believe that those two were engaged.

Apparently, something about the old team visiting for Egon’s 40th birthday had triggered a bunch of nostalgia and then a comment by Peter about how Egon couldn’t live without Janine had prompted the rather abrupt proposal.

According to Ray, they had dated back in the day, just before all the ghosts vanished and that Janine had had feelings for Egon for the longest time and that Egon had shared those feelings but kept them hidden.

Winston said that when the ghosts disappeared, they had all begun to part ways, after all, he went back to school and bounced around from a bunch of jobs while Peter had reconnected with Dana Barrett and he more or less was accepted by Oscar as the father he had never had and they moved to LA to care for Dana’s aging mother. Ray had been making money off of renting his parent’s house, but he gave that up and became a used car salesman and Janine had been taking classes and got her certifications as a substitute teacher, so eventually, the company failed and Egon kept the firehouse.

Peter always said that Janine hung on the longest, but once Slimer started to weaken to the point where he was no longer able to speak, Egon had offered her a severance check and she had reluctantly taken it upon his insistence.

 _“Now just because their relationship wasn’t maintained does not mean that either of them stopped having feelings for each other. I believe that they were meant to be each other’s one and only because even at Columbia, Spengs never had eyes for anyone until he met her.”_ , Peter said during the impromptu engagement party they had thrown two days after Thanksgiving.  

In a way, Eduardo could sort of understand what Peter meant by that, after all, he had never felt any true desire for a romantic relationship until he met Kylie. 

“So, how was everyone’s evening?”, Janine asked as she set a plate of pancakes on the table and shot a warning glare at Slimer.

“Well, I got in a pretty good workout.”, Garrett said, flexing and showing off his biceps.

“We got a letter from my dad yesterday, his tour might be over before Christmas if everything goes as planned.”, Roland answered.

“That’s great news!”, Janine exclaimed as Slimer jabbered excitedly.

“Carlos kicked me out last night.”, Eduardo replied.

  “So now Eduardo is my new roommate.”, Kylie added.    

The room went silent.

“What do you mean he kicked you out?”, Janine asked, her tone turning serious and taking on that ‘mother hen’ edge that she got whenever someone messed with the team.

“Oh my God…”, she whispered, leaning over in her chair and reaching out to study the purple bruise on his jaw.

Eduardo didn’t mind her doing this and leaned closer so she could get a better look, after all, she had patched them all up many times since their first case.

“Did he hit you?”, Egon asked, his brow furrowing as he leaned forward to glance at the bruise.

“Yeah…but don’t worry, my wisdom teeth are fine, he didn’t break anything…”

“Why didn’t you mention this when you were telling us how you got kicked out?”, Roland asked, bewildered.

Eduardo shrugged.

“I didn’t think it was relevant.”, he muttered.

“Why didn’t you call us. We could have taken you in.”, Janine asked.

Eduardo explained his reasoning and Egon shook his head.

 “…besides, Kylie and I are pretty okay with the setup right now…”, he stated, Kylie nodding in agreement.

“While I’m glad that you’re both comfortable with the arrangements you’ve made, I do wish you would have told Janine and I about the situation. When we said we’d only be taking emergency calls, that means anything from demonic possession to you needing our help.”, Egon replied.

“Date night is not nearly as important to us as your well-being.”, Janine said.

“Whether you have that proton pack on your shoulders or not and even though you are all legally adults, I feel I am responsible for you as your mentor.”, Egon continued, “So, if that means I have to drop what I’m doing and pick you up in the dead of night from a rest stop on the New Jersey turnpike, then so be it.”   

“We didn’t set those hours with the intention of shutting you out,”, Janine added, looking around at the table, “and that means any of you, not just Eduardo, so if you ever need any help of any kind, call us, because we care about you kids and we don’t want to see anything happen to you. Do you all understand?”

The four teenagers nodded.

“Good.”, Egon said, with a note of finality and rose from the table to go into the kitchen.

He returned with a bag of ice wrapped in a tea towel and handed it to Eduardo, who accepted it with a mumbled ‘thank you’, putting it on his jaw.

“Now, we don’t have any cases yet today, so I’ll be working on the containment unit. What is everyone else doing?”, he asked, sitting back down and drinking his coffee.

“Payroll and bills for me…”, Janine replied, “Everything else is pretty much done… Egon and Slimer went out earlier to clear the sidewalks and driveway.”, she said to the team.

“So, what do we do?”, Roland asked.

“We have Christmas decorations in the basement if you want to get started on that…”, Janine said.

“Sounds good to me.”, Kylie replied.

The words had hardly left her mouth when the phone rang and Janine sighed and went to the pole, sliding down with ease.

The ringing stopped and all that could be heard was Janine’s muffled voice, then silence.

“Three, two, one…”, Garrett counted down and snapped his fingers just as the alarms started going off.

“Well, I suppose decorating will have to wait.”, Egon said and stood up, “I’ll be in the lab on the radio. Be careful.”

With a nod, they were off.

 

  


	3. Black Hole Sun

CHAPTER 3 – Black Hole Sun

The team raced through Central Park, hot on the heels of their Class five specter who had manifested in the blizzard and was currently terrorizing ice skaters and photographers who were taking advantage of the snow-covered landscape and frozen ponds.

“Eat this!”, Garrett shouted, hitting the all-white specter with a proton beam as it flew out over the pond.

The ghost yowled in pain as it fell through the frozen surface of the pond.

“Did I get him?”, Garrett asked, coming to a stop.

Eduardo shrugged, opting to not use his signature _“maybe he’s dead”_ line.

“I don’t see him.”, Roland replied, looking around, “Maybe he vanished and went back into the woods?”

Kylie pulled out her PKE meter and turned it on.

“I’m getting a reading from on the other side of the pond…It’s pretty weak, so it could just be photo equipment…”, she replied, the team gathering around to look over her shoulder, their exhalations coming up in vapor clouds.

Eduardo felt _something_ guide his eyes forward across the frozen pond; the sensation like a gentle coaxing from some higher authority, telling him what to do.

He looked up just in time to see a little boy go crashing through the surface of the pond and he wasn’t the only one who noticed as he and Garrett both shouted in surprise.

“That kid just fell in! We have to help him!”

“I’ll go back and see if there’s rope and blankets in the car.”, Garrett said before rolling away as Kylie ripped off her proton pack, trap, and shoulder pads before running out onto the ice.

“Kylie, wait, what are you doing?”, Eduardo called after her.

“You and Roland are too heavy, I stand the best chance at making it out to the kid before it’s too late!”, she called out, testing her weight as she got closer to the center of the ice.

Eduardo was frozen where he stood as Kylie called out instructions to the boy.

“Try to pull yourself up!”, she shouted, getting closer.

The boy only cried.

Eduardo looked over and saw Garrett rolling back to them with a loop of rope over one arm and blankets on his lap. Before Garrett could reach them, Roland’s PKE meter began going haywire and the three young men’s heads whipped over to Kylie on the ice.

She had just reached the boy and reached out to him, noticing how pale he had already become.

“Take my hand.”, she urged, getting as close to the hole as she dared.

The boy grabbed her hand and she went to pull, but the boy stopped crying and his features morphed into those of the Class five.

Before Kylie could scream or pull away, the specter pulled her into the frigid water.

“KYLIE!”, Eduardo shouted as he ran out onto the ice, grabbing the ghost trap as he went, not caring that it could crack under the combined weight of him, the trap, and his proton pack. He had to get to Kylie.

She was poorly protected against the elements and was most likely going to go into shock from the cold within seconds…he had to get to her before she succumbed to the cold…

 _“No, you can’t think like that…you’re gonna save her…”_ , his thoughts interjected.

Garrett called out to him and he stopped long enough to catch the rope before running again, hearing the ice groan and creak below him.

“Egon and Janine are on their way in my car!”, Roland yelled.

 “Just bring her back! Forget the ghost!”, Garrett called out.

Eduardo neared the hole in the ice and his heart just about stopped when Kylie was nowhere to be found.

“KYLIE!”, he called out as he dropped to his knees and began to brush the snow away from the ice around the hole and, as if he had sensed the issue, Roland came running out as well without his pack and began moving the snow.

The ice protested loudly under their weight but did not give way.

“I found her! Quick!”, Roland shouted and Eduardo slid over to him.

She was trapped beneath the ice and appeared to be semi-conscious, because she moved her body so that she took up as little room as possible.

Eduardo powered up his proton pack, aiming to cut a circle in the ice.

“Eduardo, that ice is like glass, those beams could refract and hit us or Kylie!”

“Fine then, I’ll have to do it another way!”, he snapped back, before lifting his leg and ramming the heel of his boot against the ice as hard as he could, feeling pain shoot up his leg from his ankle but ignoring it as he frantically tried to break the ice.

 _“Ay, Dios mío…Kylie!”_ , Eduardo exhaled frantically as she looked up at him, her wide green eyes shifting in fear and shock. He dropped to his knees and punched the ice, feeling pain shoot though his hand, the adrenaline dulling it almost instantly.

Kylie’s eyes closed and she began turning blue, a fine trail of bubbles passing her lips as her dark hair swirled around her.

“Oh God…she’s dying…”, Roland said frantically as he kept stomping, gradually breaking the ice.

Roland kept kicking and Eduardo dropped his proton pack and wallet, measuring the distance between the hole and Kylie and brushing a path in the snow from one to the other.

“Not if I can reach her first.”, Eduardo said, grabbing the rope and tying it tightly around his waist.

“Hold the other end and reel us in when I tug the line!”, he shouted to Roland who quickly grabbed the rope.

He glanced towards the shore where Garrett was and saw camera and news crews. He heard the sirens from an ambulance and the blaring of Roland’s car horn. He was about to put himself in a life or death situation that very few people walked away from, and all those people were coming to save them. He only hoped that they would survive long enough to be rescued.

He put all of that out of his head and focused on saving Kylie.

“Don’t breathe in when you dive! The cold will make you want to gasp, fight that urge!”, Roland shouted as Eduardo lined up with the hole and sent up a brief, silent prayer to whatever was out there before jumping.

The cold felt like a billion shards of glass piercing his skin all at once and his eyes went numb as he followed the filtered light from the cleared path on the ice to Kylie.   

He had to keep going but the cold was nearly unbearable.

_“Just a few more feet…”_

His adrenaline rush forced him onward and the sound of his own heartbeat and thundering footfalls on the ice drowned out the screaming in his own head.

He reached out and grabbed Kylie around the waist, pulling her close before tugging on the rope, trying not to think about how stiff she felt in his arms.

The Class five swirled angrily at the bottom of the pond and hissed out something about stealing a companion, but did not attack them for some reason, and Eduardo tried to speed up the rescue before the ghost changed its mind.

He assisted Roland and kicked his way towards the hole, gasping for air as he broke through the surface.

He submerged himself again as he lifted Kylie above the water and then she was lifted from his hands and pulled out.

He was pulled out next and laid on the ice.

Paramedics swarmed around them and Eduardo ignored them and answered their questions hollowly, lying still as they did what they needed to do with him.

Kylie was lying next to him a few feet away and she was unconscious, her body shifting as a female paramedic performed CPR, her counts ringing out loud and clear.

Eduardo no longer felt the cold and he reached out to grab her hand, holding onto her as he hoped against hope that she would open her eyes.

 In these moments when he feared the worst, that he had been too late to save her, the only thing gnawing at him was grief.

And then, like some miracle, Kylie’s eyes flew open and she stared into his eyes for a split second before she squeezed his hand weakly and then coughed up water. The paramedics rolled her on her side, forcing her to let go of his hand as she heaved and vomited up the water and the remains of her breakfast, still coughing to clear her lungs.

Eduardo didn’t care. She was alive. That’s what mattered.

It was then and only then that Eduardo felt the cold and he breathed before laughing, feeling tears running down his face.

“Mr. Rivera?”, asked one of the paramedics, “You’re in shock…Do you think you can sit up?”

“Yeah.”, he replied and sat up, realizing that he was shivering and stating it blandly as another tech put a blanket over his shoulders.

“I’m shivering but that’s a good thing, right? Means my skeletal muscles are trying to warm me up, right?”, he asked, trying to recall what he learned in Health 101 as the paramedics helped him to his feet, nodding in response.

He was vaguely aware of pain beginning to make itself known in his ankle and hand, but he was still too high on adrenaline to really care, still too overjoyed that Kylie had survived to notice his own injuries.

He looked over at Kylie as she was secured onto a gurney and covered in blankets, still too shaken up to stand on her own.

“It’s too cold out here, so we’ll help you to the ambulance…You and Miss Griffin will be riding together…”, the paramedic explained.

Eduardo nodded and sat down on the bench seat in the back of the ambulance, glad that it was warm, but not too warm, which seemed like a silly thought after diving into a frozen pond.

Kylie was rolled in next to him and she opened her mouth to speak but stopped herself when the paramedics climbed in last, checking both of their vitals.

She wanted to ask what had happened and if he had been dragged in as well, if they got the ghost, and how they managed to get her out, but remained silent.

“Miss Griffin, would you like us to notify your parents or next of kin?”, asked one tech.

She shook her head no.

“No point…one is in Phoenix and the other is in Seattle…if this makes the news, I might get a call later…”

The same question was directed to Eduardo and he also said no.

Beth and Kevin would be happier to see him alive than his own brother, and he couldn’t see them alone, Carlos would make sure to come along, just to keep him from telling the truth about what was happening behind their backs.

“Are either of you married?”

“Nope, both single.”, Eduardo replied.

“You and Mr. Rivera know each other outside of work?”, the tech with the clipboard asked.

“We’re roommates.”, Kylie replied shakily.

  “Okay…we’ll be arriving soon. We’ve told Dr. Spengler of your whereabouts as he’s your employer and you got hurt on the job.”

When they reached the ER, Kylie was whisked away for a lot of tests and Eduardo was checked for hypothermia, shock, and nerve damage as he was being warmed up. Eventually, Egon and Janine came by with a change of clothes that he had left in his locker at the firehouse.

“How are you feeling?”, Egon asked, taking a seat beside his bed.

Egon and Janine had visited Kylie first and Janine had opted to go back and sit with her through the tests, explaining that sometimes you needed a hand to hold in cases like these, and Egon and Eduardo had agreed, thus leaving the two ghostbusters alone aside from the odd nurse or tech coming in to check his temperature and make sure he wasn’t developing pneumonia.

“Still kind of shaken, but that’s what happens when you thought your friend died because you didn’t get to her soon enough.”, Eduardo said with a shrug, “Doctor said I broke my ankle, fractured a few fingers, and sprained my wrist trying to break the ice…”, he added, nodding to where his X-rays were hanging on the light board.

“You saved Kylie’s life, even if jumping in after someone is the last thing you should do, you managed to get her up to the surface just in time…”, Egon said as he approached the light board and flicked it on, humming as he looked over Eduardo’s X-rays before flipping it off again and facing the younger man.

“How is she?”, Eduardo asked.

“They’re going to keep her overnight to make sure her lungs are clear and that she’s not going to come down with anything…the tests that have come back show no brain damage or any permanent damage but they’re still checking to see if she develops pneumonia.”, Egon replied, “She’s doing extraordinarily well for being under for as long as she was…it’s truly remarkable that they were able to save all of her extremities from frostbite.”

Eduardo sighed in relief.

“That’s good.”

“She’s asking about the rescue though and has a little bit of memory loss about the experience, no doubt repressed, but that’s to be expected after such a traumatic event…She’s also asking about you…”, Egon replied.

“Me?”

Egon nodded.

 “Yes. She’s wondering if you got pulled in, too, if we got the ghost, and how we managed to get to her in time…”, Egon replied.

“What did you tell her?”

“We figured that you would want to answer those questions yourself.”, Janine replied as she entered with a nurse who was pushing a wheelchair, “Do you want to go up and see her?”

Eduardo nodded and soon he was being wheeled into Kylie’s room.

She looked small, fragile, and so pale against the white sheets, her petite form covered in a blanket.

She was visibly uncomfortable, but she perked up when he entered the room.

“Hey there, _Chica_ , you feeling any better?”, he asked, grinning at her.

“We’ll leave you two alone…”, Janine said, taking Egon by the arm and leaving the room with the nurse, the door closing behind them.

“I’m feeling okay, still a little shaky, but I’m not technically in shock anymore…”, she replied before glancing at his hand and then his ankle.

“So, you did try to break the ice…”, she breathed, “I didn’t just imagine that…”

“Yeah…”

“What happened to us?”, she asked, “One minute, I was saving a boy from drowning, the next thing I know, the boy turns into the ghost and I get pulled into the pond, then I’m struggling to get back to the surface and I see you and Roland kicking the ice, then you punching it…then nothing except darkness…nothing until I wake up and we’re both wet and on the ice and I’m holding your hand…there’s paramedics everywhere and I’m throwing up. I remember everything from then until now…”

Eduardo told her his side of the story and his take on the events, all the way up to them being separated at the hospital.

“I can’t believe you jumped in after me…”, she murmured.

He scooted closer and folded his good arm on her bed, resting his head on top of it as he fiddled with the edge of the hospital blanket with his good hand.

“Yeah, well, I didn’t have much of a choice, Roland and I weren’t getting anywhere with the kicking and we wouldn’t have saved you in time even if we did break through, so-“

Kylie smiled softly and shook her head, reaching out with one hand to place it over his, “That’s not what I meant…I can’t believe you risked your life and could have died to save me…Thank you…”

Eduardo looked up at her and smiled.

“Any time…remember, I owe you…”, he replied, glancing behind him at the door as he pulled his other hand out of the sling it was in and gingerly laying it atop hers, her fingers still feeling cold to him, even though she had been warmed up.

She smiled almost contentedly and said, “Yeah, I know…”

He absentmindedly began running the pad of his thumb over the back of her hand, thankful that he hadn’t broken his thumb too, and they both just sat there in easy silence.

He was looking up at her through his bangs, a bit peeved that they were in the way, but not wanting to move his hand, lest she think that he didn’t want the contact. He gazed at the peaceful smile on her lips, the color starting to bloom in her cheeks, and she leaned forward and brushed his slightly damp hair back from his eyes.

 “There, now I can see you clearly…”, she said.

“Me too…thanks…”, came his awkward reply, “I mean, now I can see you clearly…”

“I got it.”, she replied easily, her hand lingering on his crown before drifting gently down to where his jaw had been bruised, brushing her thumb over the mark, the heart rate clip on her finger made her touch feel more foreign than it truly was, but he welcomed it all the same, just as she welcomed the feel of his bandaged and cast-covered hand on hers.

Eduardo felt himself sigh a little and he leaned into her gentle touch, which made her gasp, but not flinch away.

He had never been quite this direct with her. Sure, they had flirted playfully in the past, but that was just for the sake of their love-hate work relationship.

This was… _different_ , but in a good way; a way that suggested that there should—or rather that _they should_ —be something more.

The way he looked up at her was enough to melt her heart and she found that the thumb that rested on his cheek had begun to absently mirror the way his thumb moved over her hand.

“I’m really glad you didn’t die…”, he murmured, so softly she strained to hear him, “When I pulled you out, you were so cold and you weren’t moving either… I-I feared the worst…”

“Well, thanks to you, here I am…”, she replied.

“Those moments when I thought you were…that I thought I had been too late were terrifying…”, He took a deep breath and continued, needing to let Kylie know what he was thinking because he knew she would understand more so than anyone, “It feels like everyone around me keeps leaving; my parents, my grandma…Carl kicking me out…I feel alone and I didn’t want you to go, too…”

“I didn’t want to leave…”, Kylie replied, “In those moments of darkness, there was something telling me that it wasn’t my time…and I listened…”

Eduardo did something unexpected and turned into her palm, closed his eyes, and pressed a light kiss to the fleshy part of her thumb before looking back up at her.

Her heart rate began to spike, the monitor by her bedside beginning to beep faster, and she blushed from the simple contact.

Eduardo offered her a lopsided grin.

“So, I _do_ make your heart race, huh, _Chica_?”, he murmured, wagging his eyebrows at her.

Kylie laughed then, the hand that had been resting beneath his coming up to cover her mouth.  

Before Eduardo could speak again, there was a knock at the door and Garrett’s voice came through.

“Hey, special delivery for Lily Munster!”, he called.

Kylie smiled a bit and lowered her voice,

“We’ll talk later…”, she whispered, her hand slipping away from his face and coming back to rest in her lap.

Eduardo nodded and pushed back from her bed, slipping his bad arm back into its sling.

“Come in!”, Kylie yelled and the door swung open to reveal the rest of the team.

Garrett rolled in, took one look at Eduardo in his wheelchair and laughed.

“All you have is a busted ankle and jacked up hand and they can’t just give you crutches?”, he asked.

“Hell no, man, I haven’t been released yet, so I still gotta wear the gown and, since I’m still a liability, I have to be in a wheelchair,”, Eduardo replied, plucking at the neckline, “Besides, if I made one false move with crutches while wearing this thing-“

“We’d all go blind…I get it…”, Garrett said, cutting him off.

Roland shushed them before Eduardo could fire back and pulled a bouquet of nasturtiums from behind his back.

“Just a little get well soon present…”, he said with a smile, “Janine picked them out…”

“Can you believe that these three wanted to get you an orchid of all things?”, she said to Kylie who chuckled knowingly.

“I still don’t see what’s wrong with an orchid.”, Egon stated with a slight shrug.

“I can’t believe that you can speak multiple ancient languages and still don’t understand Victorian flower language…”, Janine said, raising an eyebrow at her husband-to-be.

“Orchids are a sign of love, beauty, and refinement…it’s also the Chinese symbol for many children…however, nasturtiums are symbols of victory and triumph.”, Kylie explained.

“Exactly, so here, you’ll triumph over this and you’ll get well soon.”, Janine said, sticking them in a vase by her bedside.

“Did you get the ghost?”, Kylie asked after a brief moment of silence.

“No.”, Roland replied, casting his eyes downward, and Kylie knew that he felt guilty and that he felt like he had failed her in that way.

“Seeing as I couldn’t go out on the ice and Janine and Egon were heading to the hospital, Roland stood out there and looked into the hole for almost an hour, but the ghost never resurfaced…”, Garrett said.

“I mean, it’s not like you two could have taken it all on your own, anyway…”, Eduardo said, “A Class 5 is at least a three-person job.”

“We’ve beaten the odds before…”, Garrett said with a shrug.

Just then, Kylie’s doctor and Eduardo’s nurse came into the room.

“Okay, Eduardo, time to go back to your room and work on signing your release, okay?”, said the nurse.

Eduardo nodded and gave Kylie a split-second glimpse of that smile that he seemed to reserve for her and her alone, hoping that nobody else noticed.

“Hey, if it’s okay with you, I’m going to tag along…”, Roland said to Eduardo.

“Sure, no problem…I’ll be glad to have the company as long as you don’t mind helping me with a few things…”, Eduardo replied.

Back in Eduardo’s room, Roland was silent as Eduardo signed off on his paperwork.

It had been just Eduardo’s luck, too, because everyone except him had been insured, and when Janine had found out about how he was living in his brother’s guest room, she had immediately insured him through the company.

When the nurse left him to get dressed, Roland looked away, giving him his privacy, and began to speak.

“You know they looked at my ankle too…”, he said, “They wanted to make sure I hadn’t hurt myself as well…”

“Yeah, I’m confused. You were kicking along with me, and you’re probably in way better shape than I am, but you weren’t hurt.”, Eduardo replied, “How did that happen?”

Roland went back and helped Eduardo get his foot and ankle into the leg of his pants before replying.

“I don’t know…it was like you were possessed or something…”

“What do you mean?”

“Like you noticed Kylie was in danger before the rest of us and you were the first to rush out there after she fell in…when we got to the hole, you were frantic, I mean, when we finally did find her, you wanted to blast a hole in the ice, knowing full well that ice crystals and proton beams don’t mix. You broke your ankle and then dropped to your knees and broke your hand too, all trying to get to her…”, Roland sat down in one of the chairs and helped Eduardo get his bad ankle into the sock that was meant to cover the cast he was wearing.

 “Yeah, I agree with you on the possession front. Now that I think back, it was like I had some sort of sixth sense or animal instinct telling me something wasn’t right…”, Eduardo replied.

“And then you saved Kylie pretty much on your own, I mean, you could have died rescuing her, but you did it anyway, without question…”

“So? I saved her life…”, Eduardo replied, “She’s our friend…I wouldn’t have just left her there…”

Roland shook his head.

 “I don’t know, but you guys came out of her apartment this morning and something had changed…When Garrett was asking about the two of you, you were getting defensive…and something about your story seemed, I don’t know, just something seemed like it was missing…”, Roland said, shrugging, his voice unsure.

Roland knew that he could have been very wrong in assuming anything _intimate_ had happened between them, but he had seen Eduardo get defensive during that ghost bride case when Kylie had nearly kissed their client, he had seen them argue over light being a particle or a wave, and he had seen them saving one another on multiple occasions. There was just something different about the way Eduardo defended her now.

“Well, and then there was the feeling I got when we entered Kylie’s room and found you two together, like we had interrupted a moment and then there was that smile you sent her way before we left...I don’t know, you and Kylie just seem closer than usual.”, Roland said.

 “Weren’t you the one who said that our relationship was our business?”, Eduardo replied, a sharp edge to his voice, before hastily adding in a less accusatory tone, “Not that we’re in a relationship or anything…”

Roland grinned, recognizing the same look plastered all over Eduardo’s face; the very same one that his younger sister wore when he found out about her boyfriend.

“So, we _did_ walk in on a moment?”, Roland asked, raising an eyebrow inquisitively.

Eduardo sighed and slumped his shoulders in disappointment.

“Come on, man, Kylie and I didn’t even get a chance to talk about what happened in there…”, he said, “I’d like to know if there is actually anything between us before I tell anyone else, because right now, I have no clue where she and I stand, so I don’t want to misinterpret this whole situation and then have her hate me for it…”

Roland nodded.

“I understand.”, he replied, “But, you have to tell me, do you want there to be something between the two of you?”

Eduardo nodded.

“Yeah… yeah, I do…”, he replied and then paused, “It’s so weird that you would be the one asking me all this because I thought for a while that you and Kylie had something going on…”

“Kylie and I?”, Roland asked incredulously before waving his hands in surrender, “No way. We’re just friends, we share interests, and, out of all of us, I feel like we sometimes have the most invested in the company, besides Egon and Janine, of course, no offense to you or Garrett.”

Eduardo shrugged.

“None taken and that sort of makes sense, I mean, you rebuilt Ecto-1, redesigned and built most of our tech and Kylie keeps us up on the facts, history, and lore. Garrett lifts weights and does sports, I lounge on the sofa, playing games and watching TV.”, he replied, grabbing the crutches from his bedside and lowering himself onto his good foot before deciding that it was easier to just maneuver with one crutch than try to walk with two, at least he had a walking boot cast on and not a regular cast.

Then Roland saw the look of uncertainty cross his friend’s face.

“Oh man,”, he muttered, running his good hand through his hair, “Kylie is like way out of my league here…”

Roland shook his head.

“Nah. I don’t believe in all that ‘I think they’re better than I am, therefore I don’t have a chance’ stuff…I think it’s a crock…”, Roland replied, “Just talk to her and if you like each other and think you should be in a relationship, then that’s what you do. If not, then don’t, but you don’t have to put yourself down in the process…either way, you’ll have to have an awkward conversation and work through some things, but it’ll be alright, you’re both capable of having a civilized discussion and she wouldn’t throw you out over unrequited romantic feelings, Kylie isn’t like that.”

Eduardo nodded.

“Thanks Roland.”

“No problem, now let’s get you out of here.”

“Well, everything looks fine to me, your chest x-rays came back clear and so did your echocardiogram, so you should be all set to go home in an hour or so…”, Kylie’s doctor explained to her.

“I could be home by tonight?”, she asked, “I thought I was supposed to stay for observations…not that I want to, or anything, but are you sure I’m fine?”

The doctor nodded.

“Positive…if anything happens, though, I’m going to give you my card and ask that you call me and leave a message with the machine.”, she replied, “If it’s an emergency, I do have my pager number on there…”

Janine was still sitting by Kylie’s side, Egon and Garrett having left shortly after Roland and Eduardo’s departure.

“Well, this is good, you’ll be able to be home in time to feed Pagan…”

“Actually, I called my neighbor before you arrived and asked her to feed Pagan…she feeds him when I’m out on the job anyway, so it’s no big deal.”, Kylie replied.

“Well, I’ll go start signing off on your release forms, and you’ll be on your way in no time…”, said the doctor before leaving the room.

Janine waited until the doctor was gone to speak.

“When Egon and I went back for Eduardo’s clothes, I looked in your locker but couldn’t find anything, so I just grabbed some of my clothes and brought them along…don’t worry about the underwear, I’ve never worn them, they’re brand new, and they’re clean…I didn’t bother with a bra, figured a tank top and a sweatshirt would do the trick just fine, oh and I also brought along an old winter coat of mine…sorry if it’s a bit out of style, but it’ll work.”, she said, “You can keep the socks and underwear, even the tank top if you’d like, but I would like to have the coat returned in one piece...”

“Thanks Janine…and I’ll take good care of it.”, Kylie replied, noticing how the coat was stained on the front, then she recognized it from a picture in a newspaper clipping that she had found when she first began getting interested in the ghostbusters.

It was the coat that Janine had worn on the day of the battle between the ghostbusters and Gozer. In the picture, the guys were coming out of the building, covered in marshmallow goop and, apparently, the picture had been snapped at the perfect moment; capturing a grinning Egon hugging and practically lifting a relieved Janine up off the cracked pavement in a moment of euphoric victory.   

“You’re welcome.”, Janine said before crossing her legs and leaning in, “Listen, I’m not trying to be weird but I need someone to help me out.”, the older redhead said, pushing her glasses up higher on the bridge of her nose.

“Sure, what’s the problem?”, Kylie asked.

“It’s Egon…trying to get him to help plan the wedding is like pulling teeth…”, She said, shaking her head, “Do you think he’s having second thoughts?”

Kylie shook her head.

“I see the way he looks at you, everyone does, and he loves you…I just think that a man like Egon is out of his comfort zone when it comes to planning social events…”

“So, you’re saying he’s not opposed to the idea of marriage or the fact that we’re going to have a wedding, he just gets overwhelmed when faced with all the ins and outs of putting a wedding together?”

“Exactly…Like you’d get overwhelmed if you were asked to, I don’t know, put on a conference on the topics of astrophysics and advanced theoretical mathematics and serve as the keynote speaker.”, Kylie replied.

“I need to ease him into it…I think I can do that…”, Janine said, turning away as Kylie got dressed, “Oh, and I also need some help from you specifically, and I know we haven’t always seen eye to eye on some things, but you’re a good kid and you make the business seem a lot less like a boy’s club...”

“Me? Why me?”, Kylie asked as she pulled on the tank top and tied the drawstring of her borrowed sweatpants a little tighter.

“Well, I can’t very well ask Roland, Garrett, or Eduardo to be my bridesmaids…”, Janine said, turning back to Kylie, “Could you imagine those guys in dresses?”

“I-I’ve never been a bridesmaid before…”, was all Kylie could say.

“Well, I’ve never been a bride before, unless you count that time I almost became a cockroach, so I guess that this will be a new experience for both of us, huh?”, Janine said, shrugging with a nervous smile, “I mean, Doris, my sister, she’s just gotta be my maid of honor…That’s a bit of a given, but as it stands, I don’t have too many female friends that I can ask to do this… What little planning we have done has included figuring out the wedding party. Winston offered to marry us, since he was ordained online last year and officiated at his brother’s wedding, and Egon wants all of you in the wedding, he thinks of you as his kids, really, even if he rarely says so, but you’ve grown on him, which means that I have to pair up five friends or family members of mine with his five groomsmen.”

Kylie chuckled a bit at Janine’s rambling and nodded.

“I’ll do it.”

“You will?”, Janine said, perking up and when Kylie nodded a second time, Janine made an excited noise and hugged her, “Thank you so much, oh, you’re not going to regret this!”

 “Only if you dress me in a horrible fuchsia dress with puffy sleeves and lace gloves or something like that will I regret agreeing to this…”, Kylie replied, only halfway joking, and Janine raised her eyebrows like she was considering something before shaking her head.

“Please tell me you weren’t considering that as one of your colors…”, Kylie deadpanned, her face falling.

Janine laughed.

“Fuchsia and my hair? Talk about horrible. The lace isn’t such a bad idea, but not in gloves, maybe incorporated somewhere else…I was thinking more along the lines of light blue or green for the colors, although I’m leaning more towards blue…it would bring out Egon’s eyes…”

“Hmm, blue sounds good, it would match my hair and go well with yours, but green would contrast with your hair and match your eyes…”, Kylie said.

“You’re right, but whenever I think of green, I can’t help but thinking of ectoplasm…”, Janine said, laughing a bit, “Guess that’s what happens after being in the business for so long, you have some things ruined for you…”

Kylie nodded and replied,

“Yeah, Eduardo can’t even watch _The Craft_ without thinking about that one case with the three witches and how they got him to be their fourth…”

“Oh, honey, I can’t watch that either, not after the whole queen cockroach debacle…too many insects…”, Janine replied, shuddering at the thought.

“Yeah, the maggots are what get me…”, Kylie added.

“Ooh, but speaking of Eduardo, and correct me if I’m wrong, but did we interrupt something when we came in earlier?”, Janine asked, wagging her eyebrows and lowering her voice as if it was some great conspiracy.

Kylie felt heat rising in her cheeks, casting her eyes down from the older woman.

“Aww. So, we did interrupt?”, Janine asked, not saying a word on how she was blushing, after all, she had been working with Peter Venkman and the rest of the guys for years, so she had been through a fair amount of teasing over her crush on Egon, and therefore she knew firsthand how Kylie was reluctant to share because of how Garrett tended to poke fun at her.

“Yeah, just a bit…What gave it away?”, Kylie asked, surprised at how light she felt now that someone else knew.   

“The way he smiled at you before he left and the way you smiled back…”

“Was that all?”, Kylie asked.

She thought that she had better control over her emotions than that.

“That’s all it took for me to notice…I remember Venkman teasing me about how I would make eyes at Egon, and, after my brush with death and a _Makoveris Lotsabucks_ ,”

“You were possessed by a _Lotsabucks_?”, Kylie asked in awe, “How long?”

“Years… when I finally broke free, with Egon’s help, and realized what had happened to me, I began to see how much my smile changed, after all, that was the first thing I asked to be changed, so I began seeing other people’s more clearly…I didn’t want what happened to me to happen to anyone else…” 

“Makes sense.”

“I also began to slowly change back from the sort of beautiful that the _Lotsabucks_ had turned me into, my voice changed and I felt myself growing, well, uglier…My self-esteem took a major hit…”, Janine frowned at the memory, “Anyway, I saw the smiles you exchanged.”, Janine finished, “That’s how I knew…I just wished Egon would have reciprocated a lot sooner than he did…”

“And I hope that Garrett didn’t see it.”

Janine waved dismissively.

“Eh, I guarantee he didn’t, he was too busy eyeballing your doctor to care.”, Janine said as she handed over a pair of boots, “I hope they fit alright…”

“They’re a little tight, but I’m just going from the hospital to the car and then to my apartment, so they’ll be okay.”

“Are you sure you and Eduardo are going to be okay?”, Janine asked, that worrying, motherly tone coming back into her voice, “You know, we have room at the firehouse if you wanted to spend the night there, just in case something happened and one of you needed to go back to the hospital, that way you wouldn’t have to wait on a taxi…”

Kylie stood up and pulled on the winter coat that Janine had brought for her.

“I’m sure we’ll be fine…I mean, Eduardo won’t be going on any busts for the next four to six weeks, anyway, so I guess we’ll be able to manage and work something out…uh, do you happen to have a shower stool we can borrow?”

“Uh, I think my mother does from when she had her hip replaced, I can get it from her later today and drop it off at your place, that way he doesn’t have to sleep while smelling like hospital and pond water.”

Kylie wrinkled her nose and muttered, “I’d hate to sleep next to that…”

Janine’s eyes went wide as saucers.

“Honey, you aren’t _sleeping_ with him, are you? Do you have protection? Are you being safe?”, she asked in a hushed rapid fire.

Kylie shook her head.

“Not like that! Not like that!”, she hissed, “I had a nightmare, we talked it over and that helped me get back to sleep, he drifted off next to me in my bed…nothing happened, I swear…”

“Okay, I just want to be sure that you’re being safe…I don’t know how close you are to your mother, but, in my experience at least, it does help to have a trusted female figure.”

“Janine, I barely speak to my parents at all, let alone about stuff like this, but my great grandma did mention this stuff to me years ago when I first started my period. She also took me to the OB-GYN that I still see yearly and she got me on the pill, so there’s that, if anything did happen…”

Janine nodded.

“I’m glad to hear it and I’m sorry if I embarrassed you by asking.”, Janine replied.

Kylie shook her head.

“No need to apologize…If I had to be in your position, I’d probably be asking the same questions, and you’re right, I haven’t had that trustworthy female figure in my life since my great grandma passed away, so it’s good to have that again…”, she replied, “Besides, I live a block away from a 24-hour drug store, so I could always pick up some condoms if I needed to.”

Janine nodded.

‘’Sounds like you’ve got this whole thing worked out.”, she replied as a nurse knocked on the door and had Kylie sign off on her release paperwork.

After the nurse left, Kylie turned to Janine.

“So, should I tell him everything once we get back to my place?”, she asked, “I-I’ve only ever done this confessing my feelings thing once back in high school and it didn’t work out so well last time...”

“Well, I would make some tea or cocoa and sit down first, unpack the events of the past few hours, you know, and then address your feelings…”, Janine replied.

“Okay, so break the ice a little…then get into it…”, Kylie mused.

“I wasn’t going to use that phrase, given what happened, but that’s it in a nutshell.”

Kylie nodded.

“If you’re nervous, just take some time to quietly go over your thoughts and reflect…Maybe take a shower when you get home and clear your mind.”, Janine said, picking up the bag of Kylie’s wet clothes before leaving the room.

“No offense, but you sound like a counselor now…”, Kylie remarked.

The older redhead shrugged as they walked to the elevator bank at the end of the hall.

“Eh, probably because that’s the advice my counselor gave me when I first fell in love with Egon…”

Kylie paused as the elevator doors slid open and several nurses got off, and they got on, the doors sliding closed with a small ping. Kylie was grateful for the lack of other riders.

The new “Extreme” Ghostbusters weren’t _nearly_ as famous as the original team, but Kylie had been approached before in the mall by some kids wanting autographs from “ ** _The_** _Kylie Griffin! The Ghostbuster!”_. It had been a humbling experience, to say the least.

“I never said I was _in love_ with Eduardo…”, Kylie said once they were in motion.

Janine glanced at the younger woman over the rims of her glasses and searched her eyes, the corners of her lips quirking upwards.

“Oh, honey, you didn’t need to say it…”, Janine murmured, “It’s not always found in some grand proclamation, rather in the smallest of glances.”

Kylie had been about to respond, but fell silent at her wisdom and realized, with a rush of butterflies to her stomach, that Janine was right.

She and Janine didn’t speak about anything personal after that; they didn’t need to, but Janine did chance a glance between Eduardo and Kylie as they met in the lobby.

 They shared a momentary look before Kylie cleared her throat.

“We need to rest today and take it easy with the ghostbusting until Eduardo is better, but we can begin formulating a plan to trap this ghost as soon as tomorrow.”, Kylie replied and Egon nodded in agreement.

“Let’s go. Egon and I will drive Eduardo and Kylie back to her apartment in the Ecto-1. Garrett and Roland; take the day off.”, Janine smiled at Egon and held out her hand to him, which he took, “We have to start planning a wedding.”

Egon stiffened and blinked a few times in mild surprise.

Kylie smirked at his reaction and clutched her nasturtiums a little closer to her chest.  

“No reason why we can’t think up ways to catch this thing at the firehouse today, as long as you don’t mind, that way we can get a head start for tomorrow.”, Roland replied and Garrett nodded, “We’ll stay out of your way, of course...”

Janine nodded.

The drive back to Kylie’s apartment was pretty uneventful, but she couldn’t help but inch her hand along the seat cushion to where Eduardo’s uninjured hand was resting. He was looking out the window as they drove through the city, his mind elsewhere, as Egon and Janine went back and forth over blues and greens.

He had a faraway look in his eyes and she could see the wheels in his mind turning.

She didn’t know if he knew just how smart he really was, but she had been dying to let him know that, for all the wisecracks she made about his intelligence, they were all just that; wisecracks. She didn’t mean anything by them.

The realization hit her like a freight train.

Just because _she_ was never serious about the jokes she made about his intelligence didn’t make the things that Carlos had undoubtedly said to him any less painful or, in Eduardo’s mind, any less true.

She tentatively placed her gloved hand onto his, causing him to lift his head and face her.

He smiled at her and she hoped that her simple touch, that small gesture of companionship, was able to bring him some peace.  

She smiled back shyly as he turned his palm upwards and intertwined their fingers.

 They rode in companionable silence until they came to Kylie’s apartment building.

When Egon and Janine went to turn around and face the pair, their hands retreated to their respective personal spaces.

“Now are you _sure_ you don’t need any help getting up there?”, Janine asked.

Kylie nodded.

“We have a main elevator and a service elevator in the back, I just generally prefer to take the stairs because I only live on the third floor.”, she replied.

“I’ll take the elevator up…”, Eduardo said as they got out of the car.

Egon walked ahead of the pair, making sure that there wasn’t any ice in their way that would make it even more difficult for Eduardo to walk.

Janine and Egon made sure they got up to Kylie’s apartment without incident and Eduardo noticed that they were both hesitant about leaving them.

“So, don’t hesitate to call me if you need anything.”, Janine said.

“Get plenty of rest and, Eduardo, don’t forget to keep the brace on and elevate your foot… The sling can come off in a few hours after the swelling has gone down.”, Egon said as Kylie fumbled with her keys and opened her apartment door, telling the scientist and his fiancée that they would see them tomorrow at the firehouse before having Janine remind her about the shower stool and how she’d be back later.

Kylie felt a wave of relief wash over her as she finally closed the door and locked it.

She knew it was silly, but ever since she had been possessed, she had placed warding enchantments and symbols all over her apartment, so she felt like it was the one place where no ghost could hurt her, and after the day she had just had, she needed that feeling of security more than ever.

“Well…”, Kylie began, setting their bags of wet clothes down in the kitchen after kicking off her borrowed boots and putting them on the tray, Pagan winding around her legs and meowing up at her, “That was an experience…”

Eduardo joined her after removing his one boot and washed his hands as best he could beside her at the sink before selecting a mug and sitting down at the kitchen table as Kylie busied herself with putting the kettle on.

“I’ll say. It’s not every day that you end up watching a good friend being resuscitated.”, he replied quietly, his thumb running around the rim of the mug, “Do you mind if I turn the radio on…the silence is kind of…jarring…”

Kylie shrugged.

“Sure, just no Christmas music, okay? No offense, but I’m kind of sick of it…”

Eduardo turned on the radio and tuned it to WXRK, the rock station, and turned it down so that it was more or less background music.

He couldn’t stop replaying that heart stopping moment when she was closing her eyes and becoming still and unmoving beneath the ice. It was like he was watching her soul leave; watching her go from _“Kylie”_ to _“Kylie’s body”_ in a matter of seconds.

“But yeah, it was weird…”, he murmured when he realized that nothing had been said in a few seconds.

“I mean, Janine and Egon acting like concerned parents was a definite first, but yeah, I guess that watching me come back was something else…”, Kylie replied, her back to him, her lower lip quivering a little at the fact that she had nearly died today and that all she could say about it was that it had been _“something else”_.

She quickly swiped at her eyes and inhaled deeply.

No need to cry. She was alive and that was what mattered the most.

She steadied herself, smiled, and turned to Eduardo.

He was staring up at her with a slack jaw.

Kylie felt heat rush to her face.

“What?”, she asked.

“You almost died. _I basically watched you die._ ”, he said, shaking his head, “Do you have any clue how terrifying that was for me? Watching your best friend, someone you like and-and care about, just die like that? It’s horrifying…”

Kylie felt her chest tighten and she looked at her feet before responding.

“I didn’t mean to sound so casual about it… to be honest, I’m still pretty shaken up by the whole experience, but I didn’t die.”

“Thank God for that.”, Eduardo said.

Kylie poured herself some tea and then filled Eduardo’s mug.

They fell back into silence again as the sound of “The Freshmen” by _The Verve Pipe_ filled the kitchen.

“I’m sorry I snapped at you.”, Eduardo said.

“It’s fine. If our roles were reversed, I’d probably have done the same thing…”

“Really?”

“Yeah…well, except for one thing…”, Kylie replied, finally finding a decent segue into the relationship conversation.

“What’s that?”, Eduardo asked.

“If you were me, I’ll be willing to bet that you would have made your move by now and asked you if that little kiss on my hand was a spur-the-moment thing or if it was premeditated.”

Eduardo’s face flushed.

“Oh. Th-That?”

Kylie nodded.

“It was spur-the-moment…”, he confessed.

“Oh.”, Kylie replied, standing and turning away from him to wash her mug out.

 _“He only kissed my hand out of pity and relief. I should have known.”,_ she thought, her shoulders trembling a little as she fought back tears, _“And I really thought that he liked me as something more than a friend, colleague, and coworker.”_

Sensing her dismay, Eduardo quickly added, “However, I have been thinking about you a lot…Especially since I saved you from falling off the side of a building…”

Kylie remembered that case.

She remembered being dangled over the side of a building by a plant, of all things, and then she remembered falling and being caught by Eduardo and hauled over the side of a balcony.

She remembered sitting on the ledge with his hands on her waist, hers on his shoulders and then his forearms, his hands holding on for dear life.

She had thanked him for not letting her become ‘street pizza’, and maybe it was the adrenaline and blood thundering in her ears, but she swore that Eduardo had said, _“Not while I’m around”_ as he placed her feet on the ground… she did recall being interrupted by Roland, though.

“It’s kinda stupid to say it out loud, but I think about all the times we’ve saved each other a lot.”, Eduardo confessed, “I-I’m not a sucker for danger or a glutton for punishment or anything, so maybe I’m crazy for seeing those times when we walked away as good memories…”

“I remember that case.”, Kylie murmured, still with her back to him.

“Yeah…Street pizza…”, he replied.

Kylie turned and faced him.

“You know what? You’re not crazy for thinking of those as good memories. We could have easily died on many occasions; those were the times we came close but didn’t.”

“Well, I thought of them as good for more than just that reason…”, Eduardo replied, trying to do as Roland said earlier and finding a way deeper into the conversation about their feelings towards each other.

Kylie tilted her head to the side as _Soundgarden_ ’s “Black Hole Sun” came on.

“Oh? How so?”

“Well,”, he looked down at his hands and sighed, _“Just get it all out in the open…”_ , he thought before looking back up at her, “I guess it was because every time we lived, that meant I could spend another day with you.”

Kylie felt the air leave her lungs.

Never in her life would she have expected Eduardo to just come out and confess his feelings like that.

Eduardo looked up at her and saw her blush deeply.

She sat down again, this time next to him, and reached across the table to where his good hand rested.

Kylie hesitated briefly before slipping her hand into Eduardo’s, but once they had made contact and were holding hands again, Kylie relaxed.

“So,”, Eduardo was the first to speak, “I guess that wasn’t too bold of me to just come out and say all that, huh?”

Kylie rested her head on his shoulder and sighed.

“No, it was bold of you, but I liked it…”

“So…You, uh, you feel the same?”, he asked tentatively, “B-Because if you don’t, I completely understand, I’m not exactly on your level in terms of intelligence or skills---”

Kylie, who had noticed he had begun rambling, turned and cupped his jaw, pulling him closer and had sealed her lips to his, cutting off his words.

_“Black hole sun, won’t you come, and wash away the rain. Black hole sun, won’t you come, won’t you come…”_

Her lips were soft and gentle against his and he faltered at first. Kylie held still, waiting for Eduardo to pull away, but he didn’t.

He tasted like black tea with honey and lemon and she tasted like her naturally sweet hibiscus and rosehips tea with a touch of honey. They both smelled like pond water and hospital sanitizer, but neither of them cared enough to break apart.

Kylie inhaled gently and let out a soft hum as Eduardo’s lips began to move gently over hers, his good hand rising slowly into her hair as he let out a sigh. Kylie rested her hands on his shoulders and pulled herself closer to him.

They pulled apart gently, breathing steadily and Kylie opened her eyes, feeling her heart jumpstart as Eduardo’s eyes opened and his pupils contracted, focusing intently on hers. He smiled his lopsided half smile and brushed his thumb over her cheek, wiping away a tear.

It was only then that she realized she had been crying, and whether it was the thought of her own mortality or the fact that she feared rejection as much as he did or even because _they_ had finally happened in the here and now, she was crying no matter what.

 _“Chica? ¿Que pasó?_ Why are you crying?” He asked, brushing her hair over her ear.

“I don’t know, I suppose I’m crying for a variety of reasons…maybe no reason at all…but I do know that I’m happy.”

“Well, that’s good…I’m glad you’re happy…”

Kylie nodded and then threaded her fingertips through the ends of his hair, tilting her head to the side.

“And you? What about you, Eduardo? Are you happy?”

He smiled and kissed her forehead, his hand still lingering on her jaw.

“I’m very happy, _chica._ ”

They sat in comfortable silence facing each other in a loose embrace, simply content with being connected physically, her head resting on his shoulder, her arms draped about his torso, his good hand moving up and down her spine.

“Where do we go from here?”, Eduardo asked, his voice no more than a whisper, almost afraid to raise it any further and chance breaking whatever mood they had set.

“I think we’ll be fine if we just stay like this…”, Kylie replied, nuzzling into his embrace, hearing the steady beating of his heart echoing through his body and being comforted by it.

“I do have one question, however…”, Eduardo murmured, feeling Kylie raise her eyebrows and hearing her hum in response, taking it as a sign to continue, “Are we dating now?”

“Like boyfriend/girlfriend?”, Kylie asked, “Yeah…I’d say so…we’ll eventually have to go on a real date, but not until you’re feeling up to it, so no pressure.”

“Sounds good to me, _chica_.” He replied, “And I know you’re all about power to the women and gender equality, which I support wholeheartedly, you are letting me stay here, so at least let me treat you.”

Kylie chuckled.

“Okay, I’ll let you take this one…”

They didn’t break apart until they heard the buzzer sound for the door and then Kylie got up.

“It’s probably Janine with the shower stool…” she murmured, unlocking the door and preparing to let Janine (and possibly Egon, too) into her apartment.

She wasn’t wrong about Egon being there, but Janine wasn’t with him.

The tall blonde scientist was standing there with the shower stool in his hands and an odd look on his face.

“Oh, hey, where’s Janine?”

“She’s taking the elevator…I decided to take the stairs…”

Sure enough, Janine came down the hall moments later with a covered dish in her hands.

“I come bearing food!”, she announced as Kylie ushered them in.

Eduardo had risen from the table and was holding out his good hand to take the stool from Egon while he worked to get his boots off.

Kylie took the dish into the kitchen and prayed to a higher power that, whatever it was, Janine had not cooked it.

She didn’t know how Egon did it, but he (and Slimer) were the only ones who had ever been spotted eating food Janine had prepared.

Maybe true love could overcome any obstacle, even bad cooking.

“Smells good, Janine…”, Eduardo said as Janine put the stool in the bathroom before bending over to where Pagan was rubbing her calves and giving him a good scratch behind his ears.

“Oh, I didn’t make it, my mother did…”, Janine explained, “You see, I told her about what happened when I was getting the stool from her and she decided to send you a container of her Matzo ball soup. She also said to get well soon.”

“Tell her thank you for us, this is really thoughtful of her…” Kylie replied.

Egon glanced around the studio apartment, taking in the décor, nodding as he noticed small warding charms placed on seemingly random objects.

Slimer wouldn’t be able to come anywhere near this place, or any ghost, for that matter: the warding alone would repel them instantly.

Kylie noticed him glancing around, admiring her defenses and smiled to herself.

He didn’t need to know that she had a Devil’s trap spray painted on the bottom of each chair and on the floor protector beneath her area rug or salt and iron filings lining her windowsills and poured into the cracks of the floorboards at her doorway and balcony entrance.

Aside from the firehouse, her apartment was probably the best defended against attacks of a paranormal kind.

“No wonder you never have any residual PKE,” Egon began, “this place probably keeps everything away…”

“What can I say? I like leaving work at work, you know? Home is for myself.” Kylie replied with a shrug.  

“Amen to that, _chica_.”, Eduardo replied, lifting his mug of tea from where he sat at the kitchen table.

Kylie smiled and Janine’s eyes flicked between the young ghostbusters before she caught Kylie’s eyes and sent her a small, knowing nod.

“Egon, speaking of home, we still haven’t scratched the surface with our holiday decorating, you want to trim the tree while I pull out my Hanukkah decorations from storage before it’s too late and we get another call?” Janine asked, casually making her intention to leave known to her fiance.

She didn’t want them to impose on the younger ghostbuster’s privacy any more than they already had.

“Sounds like a plan to me.” The older scientist replied, patting Pagan on the head before getting bundled back up for the cold weather, Janine following suit.

“Enjoy the soup!” Janine said as Kylie waved goodbye, closing the door when they were both descending the stairs and putting the locks on.

“I’m gonna have a shower before I eat…I smell like pollution, dirty water, and sanitizer.”, Eduardo said, lifting himself up from the table and hobbling over to the closet where his clothes were, grabbing clean pajamas, and entering the bathroom. 

“Okay, save me some hot water, I’m going to clean up out here…”, Kylie replied.

As she tidied up, she thought to herself about how far they had progressed in one day, how she did, in fact, love Eduardo, even if he could annoy her at times.

She felt a warm sensation creep into her being when she thought of the feel of his lips on hers, the way he held her to the best of his current ability, how deep his brown eyes could be.

How many times had she wished for all of this?

She had no idea that he felt exactly the same way.

Eduardo stepped up to the mirror after rinsing the tub, turning off the water, toweling off and awkwardly exiting the tub.

He wiped a clear patch in the condensation and sighed before bringing his fingertips absentmindedly to his lips.

Hers had been soft in comparison to his, her hands and fingertips gentle on his skin, the flutter of her eyelashes soft and delicate, almost like butterfly wings, if he had to venture a guess at a good comparison.

He smirked and felt his chest fill with happiness.

Eduardo had always known that she was different from the minute he saw her in that lecture hall; he hadn’t known then that she would be the first person he had ever really fallen for.

Sure, he flirted a lot, that was his personality, but she was, far and away, the only one who had ever captivated him like this.

He dressed and hobbled out of the bathroom to hear her humming as she steamed some vegetables on the stove.  

He cleared his throat, not wanting to startle her and add _“burned my hand on a steaming pot of veggies because my boyfriend sneaked up on me and scared the shit out of me”_ to the list of injuries they had sustained today.

“I can finish with the veggies if you wanted to take your shower.” He supplied as Kylie turned and faced him.

“Sounds like a plan to me. I was about to give Pagan his dinner, but if you wanted to, you could give him half a can of wet food.”

Eduardo shuddered.

“No offense, but wet cat food makes me gag, especially after having to eat it when I was trapped in Pagan’s body…you know I retained my normal senses in his body, so while I assume wet food would be delicious to him, it was absolutely sickening to me.”

Kylie nodded.

“Understandable. Sorry I put you through that…”

Eduardo waved his hand in the air.

“It’s no big deal, besides, how could you have known it was me?”

“True… I did think it was odd that, when you were in his body and I thought you were Pagan, he, you, never watched me get changed. Pagan has always had a fascination with me getting dressed, but you made yourself scarce when I did it.”

Eduardo shrugged.

“Figured it would be inappropriate to stare.”

Kylie smiled a bit and they lapsed into silence before she nodded and excused herself to take her shower.

The rest of the evening progressed smoothly after that, they ate and talked more about their interests, and Eduardo found out that she had a love for old movies that stemmed from her great grandmother.

“She and I would always watch _White Christmas_ and _It’s a Wonderful Life_ around this time of year.”

“I think my favorite classic movie has to be _Casablanca._ ”, Eduardo replied as he speared a piece of broccoli with his fork.

“Here’s lookin at you, kid.” Kylie said in her best Humphrey Bogart impression.

“My grandma loved that movie, thought Humphrey Bogart was all that and a bag of chips.”

“That’s how my great grandma Rose felt about Danny Kaye.” Kylie replied, laughing a little.

“Do you have any holiday traditions you’d like to do?” she asked, sipping her water.

“Decorate the tree, set up a nativity scene, go to _Misa de Gallo_ or midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, open one gift before bedtime, maybe sing the all-Spanish version of Feliz Navidad for once without Carlos going on about how we shouldn’t be speaking Spanish in this country…” Eduardo replied, “How about you?”

“I don’t really do a big holiday thing…I observe Yule on the solstice and celebrate Christmas, but that’s about it… maybe bake some cookies or do some charitable deeds, like last year, I took my holiday bonus and bought feminine hygiene products and donated them to a women’s shelter and the year before that, great grandma Rose and I went to a children’s hospital and we played the piano and sung carols with the children in the cancer ward…I didn’t know you were Catholic.”

Eduardo shrugged.“I was raised Catholic. I was baptized, made my first communion and reconciliation, and my grandma made sure I was confirmed… I try to go to Mass every Sunday, but sometimes I slip up…I think I’ve lapsed, especially with how busy we’ve been these past months.”

“I’ve actually never been to Mass in my life. My great grandma was Lutheran, my parents are either atheist or agnostic, I’m not sure, and I’m more spiritual than religious.”

Eduardo nodded, making a mental note to himself to ask her later if she would be amenable to attending with him.

They spoke for hours until they both started to yawn, then decided to turn in.

When Eduardo went to sleep on the sofa, Kylie called over to him and patted the left side of her bed, offering him a small smile of invitation.

As he slid beneath her heavy flannel sheets and duvet, she rolled onto her side and kissed him.

“Goodnight, Eduardo.” She murmured, switching out her bedside lamp before facing away from him and snuggling into the cozy bedding.

Eduardo echoed her words and switched out the other lamp, facing her and draping his arm over her, tentatively spooning her, which she welcomed with a sigh and a slight wiggle in his direction bringing them close enough to share body heat.

He slowly succumbed to sleep as he watched the rise and fall of her breathing.   

**Author's Note:**

> As always, comments and kudos are appreciated :)


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